Cause Some Trouble
by Ayala Atreides
Summary: Ever wonder what happened to Earth King Kuei after The Crossroads of Destiny? Find out right here. There's thrilling danger! Exciting romance! Chilling suspense! Fantastic adventure! And Sandbenders! Kuei/OC. Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

**CAUSE SOME TROUBLE**

_Edited 5/18 for new AN/summary: _After parting ways with Team Avatar, Earth King Kuei left to travel the world as a commoner. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. His journey takes him to the Si Wong Desert, where he finds unlikely friends in two Sandbenders. Together, this unusual trio might just change the future of Ba Sing Se. Action/Adventure/Romance/Political Intrigue. Kuei/OC.

I listen to music when I write, and I have this playlist that I've made specifically for writing this fanfic. For each chapter, I will post links and/or lyrics, when applicable, for that chapter's associated music, so that you, the reader, can get a sense of my emotional/mental state while writing that chapter, and the mood I'm going for. For this chapter, it's "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saëns. You can listen to it here on Youtube: www .youtube watch? v= YyknBTm_YyM (just remove the spaces)

_Edited 5/6/10 to add marker for scene transition and to change timeline from "Eight weeks" to "six weeks"._

_Edited 6/1/2012 to change timeline to "Four weeks"._

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**PROLOGUE: THERE IS NO WAR IN BA SING SE**

_Four weeks after the return of Sozin's Comet…_

Sokka grinned sheepishly at the solemn-faced Royal Earthbender Guards lined up shoulder-to-shoulder on either side of the wide promenade leading to the Earth King's palace. It was a familiar sight—they had stormed this very walkway not too long ago. They had been received as enemies that day, but today the young heroes—Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Toph, and Suki—were welcomed as the most highly honored guests, possibly by the same soldiers!

"I kinda feel like we should be apologizing or something," Sokka whispered to Zuko, who was walking to his left. The other boy looked askance at him.

"Apologizing for what?" asked Zuko, his one remaining eyebrow pulling inward in a frown.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't there," Sokka said as if to himself, rubbing his chin speculatively.

"Why, what happened?" the young Firelord asked as his frown deepened.

"We took out a couple battalions of these guys," Toph answered cheerily from behind the two boys. She waved to a few of the soldiers, who blanched visibly despite their best efforts to remain appropriately stoic. "Aww, they _do_ remember us!" Zuko looked torn between being impressed and being concerned over the mischief his friends had apparently wrought. Momo, riding on Aang's shoulder at the head of their little procession, chattered noisily at Sokka.

"Momo's right, Sokka, I'm sure they're not still mad about it! We _were_ on their side," Aang joined in blithely as he scratched behind the lemur's ears. The six teens had returned to Ba Sing Se at the behest of Earth King Kuei, who, it seemed, had returned from his travels and wished to begin rebuilding the diplomatic ties between his kingdom and the Fire Nation. Aang and the others had been delighted to hear that Kuei was so eager to extend the hand of friendship to his former enemies so soon after the war's end; Sokka, thinking back to his disastrous attempts at awakening Bosco's much-praised "animal instincts", was just glad Kuei had made it home in one piece.

The young war heroes reached the top of the steep flight of steps outside the palace and made their way inside, chattering happily all the while. Sokka regaled Zuko with a slightly exaggerated rendition of the siege he'd missed out on, with the others interjecting whenever the details became a little too grandiose. Soon enough, the massive, ornate doors leading to the throne room loomed before them. Katara turned to her brother and gave him a mocking bow.

"Care to do the honors, O brave warrior?" she teased.

"Very funny," Sokka grumbled. The guards standing on either side pushed the heavy doors open and the group entered. They'd barely gotten five paces into the room when the lighthearted mood that had surrounded their journey evaporated.

"_You?_" Aang shouted, enraged, whipping his staff around to point at the man sitting on the throne atop the dais at the other end of the chamber.

"What, what's going on? Who is it?" Toph demanded as she and the others took up fighting stances. Even Zuko reacted; he may not have been there when his friends had stormed the palace, but he still recognized the former Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se.

"Long Feng," Katara muttered darkly. He rose and spread his arms, smiling serenely.

"Welcome back to our proud city, Avatar Aang." The young Airbender advanced towards the dais.

"What are you doing here? You have no right to sit on that throne, traitor!" he snapped. Long Feng lifted his hands appeasingly.

"You're right, of course. The blame for the Fire Nation's capture of Ba Sing Se rests on none but my own shoulders. I acted rashly—I was greedy, and I underestimated Princess Azula. What's more, I overestimated myself. I will not deny my guilt, although I wish I could. Now that our fair city has been freed, my one desire is to atone for my crimes, to undo the destruction my actions caused." Here he paused and bowed his head. "It's the least I can do to honor His Majesty's memory."

"'Memory'?" Katara echoed, an edge of horror creeping into her tone.

"What did you do?" Toph snapped.

"It was nothing _I_ did, I assure you. Indeed, if only there was something I could have done." He wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. "The Earth King has passed away from an illness—the royal physicians believe he contracted it while traveling during the occupation. It seemed like a minor ailment when he first returned to Ba Sing Se, and the physicians thought he would recover. But then his health began declining rapidly, and none of their remedies were having any effect…" He let his voice trail off, looking around at the shocked, silent young war heroes. "Don't worry," he assured them swiftly, "my presence on this throne is a temporary measure—His Majesty died without an heir, and so the task falls to me to produce one."

"Ew," Toph muttered under her breath.

"By selecting one from a list of qualified candidates," Long Feng added bitingly, shooting a sour glance at her. Aang scowled, then lowered his staff with a resigned sigh.

"I need to talk with my friends," he announced in an icy tone.

"By all means, please do," Long Feng agreed. The group of teens retreated to the hall beyond the throne room's threshold, where they huddled into a circle. The young Avatar turned his eyes over each of his friends' faces studiously before his gaze settled on his Earthbending teacher.

"Toph?" he asked anxiously. The small girl shrugged, her expression troubled beneath the fringe of black hair that fell across her sightless eyes.

"He's telling the truth." The stillness that had hung over the group broke as everyone began talking at once.

"Are you sure? Really, really sure?" Sokka demanded, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe he's fooling you like Azula did!"

"He must be lying! Maybe you were standing too far away to tell," Katara insisted.

"Let her talk!" Zuko's abrupt exclamation, the first time he'd spoken since arriving in the throne room, silenced the group. Abashed, the others refocused their attention on the girl.

"Thanks, Sparky. Like I said, he's not lying. Y'know how I said there's physical changes when somebody lies? They're a little different for everyone, but I _never_ forget 'em once I've seen 'em. And trust me, Long Feng isn't even half as good as Azula. He's _not lying_." The five friends fell silent again as they processed this news.

"So what do we do?" Katara asked, wrapping her arms around her torso. "We can't work with him, not after everything he's done!"

"I don't think we have any other choice," Aang said. "I mean, maybe he really _has_ changed. Weirder things have happened to us, right?" Here the gang turned as one to look at Zuko, who shrugged self-consciously.

"Hey, I never dealt with him. I'll trust whatever decision you guys make," he said.

"This doesn't feel right," Sokka muttered.

"I know." Aang squeezed his eyes shut. Momo nuzzled the boy's cheek comfortingly. As they returned to the throne room, Long Feng smiled graciously and folded his hands into his sleeves. Choking down his apprehension, Aang stepped forward and looked the older man in the eye. "Okay, Long Feng. We're willing to give you a chance." The words felt hollow even as they left his mouth, but what else could he do?

* * *

Long Feng returned to his apartments within the palace compound, satisfied with the day's work. The Avatar and his friends had decided to postpone their diplomatic negotiations with Ba Sing Se until a new king had been chosen—fair enough. He could certainly appreciate their reluctance to place that much power into his own hands given their past experiences with him. He'd scarcely had time to call for a servant to bring him some tea when he realized that he wasn't alone in the room. He spun, fists raised to Earthbend at the intruder, and found himself facing Lieutenant Jianjun of the Dai Li. Long Feng scowled at the agent.

"What are you doing here? I didn't summon you," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Actually, sir, you did summon me." The younger man stepped forward and looked Long Feng squarely in the eye. "The tower is secure, sir." Long Feng staggered, and his head snapped back as if he'd been struck. Jianjun stood dutifully as his commander recovered his composure, taking a deep breath through his nose to steady himself. Finally he straightened and brushed imaginary specks of dust from his sleeves as his characteristic ice-cold smirk settled on his face once again.

"Brainwashing—such a barbaric practice. Hopefully we won't be needing it any longer," Long Feng said calmly.

"The Avatar, sir?" prompted the lieutenant.

"We have his support—grudgingly, I'll admit, but we have it nonetheless. His little lie-detector couldn't pick up a single hint of anything less than complete truthfulness from me. And the execution?" Here Jianjun wavered. His silence made Long Feng glance sharply at him. "Lieutenant, please tell me that that bespectacled idiot has been disposed of." The calmness in his tone was now meticulously controlled, rigidly maintained over a razor-sharp edge of warning.

"It seems that we overestimated our hold on the Royal Earthbender Guard, sir. Our ranks were infiltrated by soldiers who are still loyal to the Earth King; there was an ambush waiting for us when we arrived at Lake Laogai with the prisoner. Of the five agents you sent to carry out the execution, I'm the only one to have survived. By the time I woke up, the traitors and the Earth King were gone." Long Feng turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose. The lieutenant could feel the sudden tension radiating from him like a physical force in the room with them. Long Feng composed himself, setting his anger behind a well-practiced mask of coolness.

"No matter," he said icily. "It's only through sheer luck that he survived on his own during the occupation. He won't be so fortunate a second time. Life outside the safety of the palace will take care of him, I should think. But just in case, send word to our agents throughout the kingdom, tell them to keep an eye out for His Majesty, and if they see him… eliminate him."


	2. Chapter 1

**NOTES: ****First, a million thanks to my magnificent beta, Kitty East! Double thanks, actually, since I forgot to acknowledge her in the AN's for the prologue. **

**Sandbenders! You'll be meeting mine in this chapter. Here's a sketch of them (remove the spaces): **

**http:/ / skeleton-horse. deviantart. com /art/ Sandbenders-153308758**

**We have a few songs for this chapter: (Missing Youtube links are currently being updated.)  
**

**1) Avatar Premiere Main Theme by The Track Team. **It may be a bit presumptuous of me to include the show's main theme on my humble little fanfic's playlist, but I couldn't resist! It's just such a great piece of music.

**2) Bacchanale from "Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saëns. **This is sort of where it all started. I was listening to this piece over the summer and got an idea for a fanfic in which Kuei's travels take him to the Si Wong Desert, where he meets a Sandbender girl and her brother…

**3) "The Forgotten People" by Thievery Corporation. **IDK, this one just made me think of the Si Wong Desert and the Sandbenders.

**Youtube: http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=OmJ5MLhGxoI**

**4) "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra. **This one doesn't specifically apply to this chapter. It's more like, uh, foreshadowing. ;)

**Youtube: http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=XgFtQPgHyek **

**Okay, these AN's are getting ridiculously long, so let's get going!**

_Edited 5/6/10 to add marker for scene transition and change the siblings' tribal affiliation, for greater canon accuracy. This will be explained in the AN for Chapter 4 when it is posted._

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**CHAPTER ONE- THE KING IN EXILE**

**Six Months Ago…**

It had seemed like such a simple idea at the time. Strike out on his own, travel the world in disguise, see what life was like outside the palace walls. No fancy parties to host, no Dai Li watching his every move, no Long Feng whispering poisonous lies in his ear—just Kuei and Bosco, off on a marvelous adventure, learning more about the citizens of his realm so that he could be a better king for them once the Avatar had ended the war. He hadn't realized that life with no limits would be so… well, so complicated. He hadn't taken any money with him when he and the Avatar's group had fled Ba Sing Se, for one thing. He'd planned on selling his royal robes and adornments in the first port city they reached, but the others felt this would arouse too much suspicion. (Besides, with the Fire Nation now occupying the capital, the ports around the group's camp at Chameleon Bay were swarming with Firebenders.) The kind little Water Tribe girl and her friends had given him some of their money, what little they had. He hadn't brought any supplies, either; he'd tried with some success to teach himself hunting and fishing, but neither he nor Bosco could quite get the hang of it. He was hungry, exhausted, smelly, sore, he had an increasingly ragged beard creeping along his typically clean-shaven face—all of which was nothing compared to the shame of having fled like a mouse from a cat owl while the Fire Nation brought the last great stronghold of the Earth Kingdom to its knees. But at least, he thought sourly, he had the freedom he'd always craved.

And so it was that Kuei, the 52nd Earth King of Ba Sing Se, found himself seated at a rickety wooden table in the cantina at the Misty Palms Oasis, located on the edge of the vast and deadly Si Wong Desert. An empty ice-cup sat in front of him, its sides and bottom stained pale orange from the drink he'd purchased at the bar with the last of his money; he'd made it this far without getting himself killed and felt he ought to celebrate. Visiting an oasis—now there was another thing that had sounded quite simple. When he'd arrived, however, he'd discovered it to be quite different than expected. It wasn't misty, there weren't any palm trees, and indeed the only thing shady about the place was the nature of its inhabitants. Still, ever the optimist, Kuei was determined to enjoy his stay, a task he felt would have been substantially easier if he could just shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

A dark shape appeared suddenly in the corner of his eye and perched on the table's edge beside him, and he started so sharply that he dislodged his glasses. He hastily adjusted the round lenses and leaned back in his chair to get a look at this apparition. The new arrival was obviously a Sandbender—that much was clear from the shabby sand-colored clothes and from the thick layer of wrappings that bound its arms, legs, and head, the standard garb of all the locals. Then it leaned in close and spoke, and he realized it was a female Sandbender.

"Keep your voice down and don't look about. There are three men in the corner who've been watching you since you came in," she whispered, muffled by the beige cloth that covered all but her warm, dark brown eyes.

"I-I beg your pardon? Watching me?" he sputtered. His mind flooded with images of Fire Nation assassins, sinister creatures bristling with all manner of unpleasantly pointy objects.

"Friends of yours?" she deadpanned. Kuei frowned and scratched at the tangled mess on his chin.

"Well, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be—"

"I was being sarcastic. Damned tourists." She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head pityingly, then glanced past him, presumably to where the three men were. "Oh _Spirits_, here they come." Kuei shot an anxious look over his shoulder and received a solid cuff upside the head from the Sandbender woman's heavily wrapped right hand. "I said not to look about! I know these guys; let me handle this."

"Well, Zafirah, it looks like you've made a new friend," said a sneering voice behind him. He snuck another glance and saw three more Sandbenders. Two of them had their faces exposed; the one in front was young and smooth-shaven, and the other was older and had a thick beard and moustache. Both were scowling fiercely. Kuei grimaced and sunk down into his chair. The girl, however, seemed thoroughly unimpressed.

"Afternoon, Ghashiun," Zafirah replied. "Speaking of new friends, I don't think I've met yours," she added sweetly, waving to the other unmasked man. Ghashiun's scowl deepened more than Kuei thought was physically possible.

"Never mind him. What's with the tourist?" he asked coldly. That last word was positively dripping with scorn.

"Oh, you know me," Zafirah said brightly. "I just love tourists! They're so entertaining!" She ruffled Kuei's hair and he ducked his head.

"I, ah, I should be going," Kuei said quickly, trying to keep his tone light and unconcerned. "You two obviously have a lot to talk about, I wouldn't want to interfere!" He pushed his chair back and stood—right onto the third Sandbender's foot. The man shouted in pain. Ghashiun grabbed the front of Kuei's shirt and threw him back against the table, which creaked in protest. He collided with Zafirah, who elbowed him in the side.

"You just don't get how to listen, do you?" she hissed. "I told you to _let me handle this_." She jerked her thumb at the angry young man in front of them, raising her voice. "Just ignore him, he's been acting like more of a jerk than usual every since he got in trouble for stealing the Avatar's Sky Bison." Kuei looked sharply at the Sandbender boy, feeling some of his fear replaced by anger on the young hero's behalf.

"That was _you_?" he demanded. The four Sandbenders stared at him, as surprised by his outburst as he was.

"What would you know about it?" asked the third Sandbender suspiciously. Kuei swore inwardly and scrambled to cover up his slip.

"Well, ah, you see, I had the good fortune to meet the A-avatar on my travels. Naturally, I was curious about the, um, about the Sky Bison, never having seen one before, so I asked him some questions about it, and, uh, he—" Zafirah lunged forward and drove a solid right hook into Ghashiun's jaw, sending him staggering back with a cry. The other unmasked Sandbender growled and threw a blast of sand straight into her eyes through the narrow opening in her face coverings. She yowled and jerked her right fist towards her waist; the sand shifted under the man and he fell as though a rug had been pulled from beneath his feet.

"Time to go," Zafirah told him with what Kuei felt to be a rather inappropriate amount of glee given the circumstances. She seized his arm and hauled him towards the curtained doorway before the third Sandbender could even react. The rest of the cantina's clientele barely shifted their focus from their drinks as the two hurried past. Tavern brawls were hardly a noteworthy occurrence at the Misty Palms Oasis.

The air outside the cantina felt heavy with the stifling heat of late afternoon in the desert. Zafirah slowed to a walk as she dropped Kuei's arm and rubbed the sand from her eyes, then laughed when she saw the dismayed look on his face.

"Oh, calm down! You made it out in one piece, didn't you?" She winked at him, then turned and started to walk away from the cantina, lifting one hand in a casual wave. "Well, thanks for the fun. Bye, now!" It took a moment for Kuei to recover his wits, and then he trotted after her. She glanced sideways at him and as he caught up with her, but she kept walking.

"Are you following me?" she asked flatly.

"Wha-no, no, I just... I wanted to thank you for, ah, helping me. What were they going to do to me, anyway?"

"Oh, rob you, maybe rough you up a bit, maybe with an emphasis on the roughing-up if you didn't have much money on you." The girl shrugged. "My getting involved probably made it worse, actually," she added apologetically. "I just can't pass up an opportunity to piss them off."

"I don't have any money at all, so I suppose I ought to thank you for sparing me a good deal of pain. Won't that man and his, uh, _associates_ come after you now? I assume they'll want revenge of some sort."

"Pffft, no! This is business as usual for us. He and I have a go at each other at least once every couple of months," she replied, chortling.

"Oh," he said. Bosco, who had been resting near the depleted iceberg at the center of the oasis, spotted his master and lumbered over. Zafirah shrieked and jumped behind Kuei. "Oh, don't worry! That's just Bosco, my pet bear," he said, beaming. She stepped out from behind him, trying to recover her dignity.

"Pet bear?" she echoed. "_Tourists_." She turned and started to walk off again.

"Wait! Is there an inn here, someplace I can sleep?"

"Yeah, but they all cost money, which you've just said you don't have, and I'm pretty sure they don't allow… _those_," she said, eying Bosco distastefully. She paused, considering, then spoke again. "What's your name, tourist?"

"I am Kuei," he told her. His given name sounded unfamiliar in his own ears. It felt like he was introducing a stranger. He bowed—he was in the presence of a lady, after all—eliciting a disbelieving snort from his peculiar rescuer. "And I believe the angry fellow back there called you Zafirah?"

"That's me." She looked him once over, then shook her head again. "Well, Kuei, I've got a perfectly good floor you can sleep on if that suits you." He blinked at her, thoroughly taken aback.

"W-well, I, that's very—I don't know quite what to say—" he stammered.

"Do you want the floor or not? 'Cause really, it's that or camping for you, and I'm not feelin' too confident about your chances out in the desert all by your lonesome self. Can't guarantee someone else won't mess with you, not to mention all the nasty things livin' out there. I don't particularly want your death on my conscience," she said impatiently.

"Yes, please. Thank you, that's... very generous of you," he said, flummoxed. She set off at a brisk pace without another word, or even checking to see if he was behind her. It didn't take long to get there; the oasis was a very small settlement, little more than several clusters of squat, domed huts of hard-packed earth and wood frames, all forming a rough circle around the iceberg and enclosed by a low wall. Zafirah's home was nestled in a cluster next to the main gate. Once inside, Kuei saw walls lined with swords and knives of all sizes, a counter in the middle of the room, and a work station in the corner behind it. "Do you make weapons?" he asked.

"Nope. Buy, sell, and trade," she said.

"Oh."

"By the way, I'd prefer if you left the animal up here." She pulled back a curtain at the back of the room and disappeared through it. Kuei told Bosco to stay put and followed her through, down a crudely made wooden ladder barely taller than himself and into a musty, dimly lit basement. It was a fairly small but cozy space, with a kitchen in the corner next to the ladder, a curtained area along the wall opposite, and a thin straw mattress heaped with blankets in the corner past the kitchen. Zafirah reached up and unbound her head coverings, depositing them beside the ladder. She was actually rather pretty under all those wrappings; her deeply tanned face was framed by shorter locks that had escaped the confines of a long, thick braid of dark brown hair. He wasn't very good at guessing ages, but she didn't look much older than twenty. She turned to face him and put her fists on her hips. "I'm not running a restaurant here. You help when I tell you to, got it?"

"Of course," he agreed quickly. She sauntered over to the kitchen, stretching her arms above her head.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starved," she said as she grabbed some sticks from a basket and stuck them beneath a rough iron pot hanging in the fireplace. "Would you light that up while I get some things from the pantry?" she asked, pointing absently at a pair of spark rocks on the counter next to the firewood basket. Not bothering to wait for an answer, she swept off through a doorway to the left the kitchen. Fortunately, a pair of spark rocks was one of the first things Kuei had picked up after parting ways with the Avatar's group, and thus he was spared the embarrassment of his host thinking him to be totally useless.

A sudden movement to his left caught his attention; he looked up, expecting to see Zafirah, but instead he saw a nearly naked man rising from beneath the pile of blankets in the corner. Kuei wasn't sure which of them was more startled. He bore an unmistakable resemblance to his host and was perhaps a hair shorter than Kuei. He had the sort of lean build that suggested a history of scarce meals and daily physical labor. The man blinked owlishly from behind a curtain of below-shoulder-length brown hair hanging loose around his face and took an unsteady Bending stance, clearly intent on defending his home. He succeeded in raising a small cloud of dust that promptly flew up into his own face. As he coughed and shook his head, Zafirah emerged from the pantry, arms filled with cloth sacks.

"Zafi! There's a thief in our house!" rasped the man, slurring his words.

"That's not a thief, that's a guest, so will you please put on some pants?" she demanded.

"But I _am_ wearing pants, Zafi!" he insisted, hurt. Zafirah cleared her throat and looked pointedly downward. The man followed her gaze to his bare legs and gaped at the sight.

"Ohhhhh," he said slowly. He stumbled back into the heap and dug around amidst the blankets for a minute before apparently giving up. Zafirah stomped over to the fireplace and dumped the sacks on the ground.

"My stupid twin brother, Basam. He's been drinking sake again," she explained. Then she pulled a waterskin from a hook on the wall and emptied its contents into the pot. Kuei hovered a couple feet behind her, tapping his fingertips together behind his back as if attempting to magically summon a way to be helpful. People weren't his strongest area of expertise; there was already a certain level of personal detachment that came with ascending to the throne, and with Long Feng meticulously excluding him from matters of government, Kuei had been left with few chances for human interaction. He wasn't even allowed to show his face or speak with guests at the fancy parties he'd hosted! He'd had a veritable army of tutors in every academic subject imaginable, and he considered himself a very knowledgeable man- but when it came to people, and especially the art of conversation, he was in the dark.

"Um. What are you making?" Kuei asked politely. Zafirah shrugged carelessly and began pouring lentils from one sack into the pot. Basam shuffled over and stood next to Kuei, much too close for comfort, eyes narrowed and rubbing his stubbly chin pensively. He leaned away almost involuntarily.

"I still say he looks like a thief," Basam pronounced. Zafirah snatched a stick of firewood from the basket and threw it at him.

"_Basam_. Pants!"

He huffed irritably. "Be reasonable, Zafirah. Why in the Spirit World would I put on _two_ pairs of pants?"

"I don't know, Basam, why don't you put on _one_ pair to start with, and find out?" she growled. He looked down and was once again surprised. His pride bruised, he stared imperiously at his sister and then shuffled back to the bed.

"Fine, then! I'll do that, and you see to the thief."

"Oh, please. If he's a thief, then I'm the Avatar! Speaking of which, that was a nice diversion back there," she said, addressing the last part to Kuei. She opened another sack and added rice to the pot, then took two big fistfuls of dried pig-chicken meat from a third bag and added that as well.

"Diversion?"

"The story about meeting the Avatar and knowing about his Sky Bison."

"I really did meet him, though." _Met him, let him down, and saw his lightning-struck corpse revivified by Spirits-blessed water._ He didn't think it wise to mention all of that, though.

"Uh huh. Nice quick thinking there, you!" Well, if she thought he'd done it intentionally, he certainly wasn't about to disabuse her of that notion.

"Thank you, I do try," he said mildly. She pointed wordlessly to a wooden box on the counter. Realizing that he was meant to fetch it, Kuei hurriedly retrieved it. She took it from his hands and lifted the lid; it was a spice box. She threw several pinches of different herbs into the pot, then grabbed a long, wooden spoon from the counter and stirred the pot's contents, humming off-key as she worked. It wasn't long before an almost overwhelmingly spicy aroma began rising from the stew.

"So what brings you to our lovely oasis?" she asked, a hint of self-deprecation in her tone.

"I live here!" Basam exclaimed. He had found his clothes and was hopping precariously on one foot as he attempted to pull his pants on.

"Not you! I was talking to our guest," she growled. Now it was Kuei's turn to shrug, partly to buy some time to think of an answer.

"I, ah, I saw it on my map and thought it seemed like a nice place to visit," he tried.

"Must be an old map," Zafirah replied with a crooked smirk. Kuei couldn't disagree with that. Silence settled over the room, broken only by the scrape of the spoon against the sides of the pot. Eventually, Zafirah lifted the spoon to her lips and sampled its contents, then nodded to herself, satisfied. She hefted an iron lid and set it in place atop the pot, then sat back on her heels. "Now we let that cook for a while. I guess that monster of yours needs food too, huh. What's that thing eat, anyway?"

"Meat, usually," he said. She grabbed the sack of dried pig-chicken and handed it to him, and he headed back up the ladder. Bosco looked up and growled mournfully as Kuei entered the shop. He knelt beside his pet and scratched behind the bear's ears. "I'm sorry I have to leave you up here alone, my friend," he said as he placed a pile of the meat in front of Bosco's snout. When he returned to the basement, Zafirah waved in the direction of another curtained alcove beside the pantry.

"The washroom's through there if you want to get cleaned up at all," she told him.

"Thank you, I would like that." He rubbed absently at his chin and frowned. "Does your brother have a spare razor I might borrow?"

"Nah, just use his." She shot a look at Basam's immobile form in the corner. "It's not like he's in any condition to argue!" she added in a raised voice. When this failed to get a reaction, she rolled her eyes and lifted the pot's lid to stir again.

The washroom was a cramped space with a metal basin against the far wall beneath a dingy, cracked mirror. He noticed with some surprise that there was a water pump beside the basin stand. Kuei winced slightly as he caught his reflection in the mirror. His face was dirtier than he'd realized and covered in scratches from where he'd stumbled into a patch of brambles a few days earlier. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and that beard was really quite awful. He found a shaving kit wrapped in tattered leather on a shelf cut into the wall beside the mirror and set about returning himself to something approximating a civilized state. When he emerged from the washroom, satisfied that he was as clean as he was going to get without jumping in a lake, their supper had finished cooking and Zafirah was rummaging around on a wooden shelf above the kitchen counter.

"Bowls, bowls, where are the Spirits-be-damned— aha!" She spun around triumphantly with a stack of misshapen metal bowls held high in one hand. Her left eyebrow twitched upward slightly when she caught sight of him, and he almost thought he saw a flicker of a smile at the corners of her mouth. But it was gone before he could figure out what it was and then she was shoving a bowl into his hands and gesturing to the iron pot. "Go ahead. I said I wasn't running a restaurant!" She plunked down beside the fire and ladled some of the stew into her own bowl. He settled in across from her and took the ladle after her.

"Zafirah, may I ask how the water pump in the washroom works?"

"Absolutely not." She paused, then grinned at his obvious shock. "Relax, I'm just teasing you! Spirits, you're such an easy mark it's not even _fun_. Of course you can ask. There's a water tank behind the wall in there. Every few weeks we fill it with our allotment of melted-down water from the iceberg. It may look like there isn't much of it, but it's huge underground. And since there's so few of us living here, we all get to use it. Not very much, of course, so we have to make do. Like, we scrub food scraps off of plates and stuff with sand, then use a tiny little bit of water to wipe out the sand."

"Ah." Kuei couldn't help but glance dubiously at the bowl in his hands.

"Yeah, it's not too fancy. Nothing like what you're probably used to, living in…" She paused again, scrutinized him through narrowed eyes, and smirked. "Ba Sing Se?" Kuei managed not to choke on a mouthful of stew.

"H-how did you…?"

"We get folks from all over the place. You spend enough time watching people, you start to see all these little things that give away a person's story. You can see it in the way they talk—different cities have different accents, you know. And the way they carry themselves? Kinda sad how easy it is to spot the rich noble types. Like you, for example: here you are, sitting on the ground, and your back's as straight as a reed." Kuei slouched self-consciously, sending another ghost of a smile flitting across Zafirah's face before she went on. "I can tell you're from a big city, and there aren't a whole lot of those. Gaoling, Omashu, Ba Sing Se… that's pretty much it. Your accent is sort of like other Ba Sing Se folks that've passed through, so I figured I had a one-in-three shot at guessing right. But I gotta say, I almost couldn't place you; there's something… odd about you."

"Odd?" he echoed in a carefully neutral tone.

"Yep. Your accent's weird for Ba Sing Se. It's as if—" Luckily, a distraction arrived in the form of a nearly-sober and fully-dressed Basam slinking sheepishly over to the fireplace and sinking down between the two. "Feeling better, brother?" Zafirah asked dryly.

"Yeah, the fog's lifting," he said with an embarrassed grin. He fished a length of green cord out of his pocket and tied his hair back at the nape of his neck, then turned to Kuei. "Hey, sorry if I—" He stopped short and squinted at their visitor, then looked over at his sister. "How many guys did you bring over tonight, anway?" he demanded.

"Just one," Zafirah replied with a bemused smile.

"Huh!" He returned his gaze to Kuei. "You don't look nearly so much like a thief without that beard, y'know," Basam commented as he helped himself to a bowl of stew. The three ate in surprisingly comfortable silence for a while. It was a refreshing change of pace to simply sit and share a meal and conversation with people who were making no demands of him.

Basam spoke again. "So how'd you get here all the way from Ba Sing Se?"

"Pure chance, I suppose. I picked it out on my map, as I told—"

"Yeah, heard that part. Why were you reading the map, though?"

"Why am I traveling?" Basam nodded eagerly. Kuei tried to quell his surge of nervousness. How much of the truth did he dare tell them? "Well, to be honest, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter," he said carefully. Basam suddenly cringed and slapped his forehead.

"Of course, Ba Sing Se! The Fire Nation!" he groaned.

"Sweet spirits, I almost forgot," Zafirah murmured, her smile vanishing. "You're lucky to have gotten out, you know?"

"Oh, yes, I'm certainly aware of that," he agreed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. He hoped they couldn't see the guilt he felt as he thought about the thousands of citizens trapped within the city—all the people he was responsible for, the people he'd been unable to protect. The two Sandbenders must have noticed his sudden melancholy, because they swiftly moved on to more mundane topics. Where had he been before the desert? Oh, Chameleon Bay, I hear it's nice up there. Those scratches all over his face and neck? Ooh, brambles! How unfortunate. Bet he'll be more mindful of where he steps now. Had he done much camping before this? No? Well, experience is the best teacher.

Once the three of them had finished their meal, Zafirah set Basam and Kuei to cleaning the dishes while she started a pot of water boiling for tea. With the chores done and the tea brewed, the trio returned to their seats by the fire. Zafirah lounged against the wall next to the fireplace, her expression unreadable, studying Kuei over the rim of a metal teacup as battered as the bowls they'd been eating from.

"So what're your plans? Where are you headed after this?" she asked.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead, to be entirely honest," Kuei admitted. "I suppose I'll continue traveling, or perhaps I'll try to get some work, somewhere."

"Speaking of which, I'd better be going. It's probably almost dark by now," Basam announced as he stood up. He added to Kuei, "You can use my bed if you're staying till morning, I won't be here and all."

"Sand glider construction crew," Zafirah explained, seeing the puzzlement on Kuei's face. "That stupid beetle-breath Avatar wrecked a bunch of our tribe's gliders, we gotta rebuild 'em. The crews can only work at night though, since it's so hot during the day now that spring's here."

"He… he did? But why would the Avatar do that to citizens of the Earth Kingdom? Oh, it's not—I'm not accusing you of lying, I just don't understand…"

"He got angry at us 'cause of what Ghashiun and his guys did. He lost his temper. Me and Basam were there, we saw the whole thing. The boy's, what, twelve years old?" Zafirah snorted and turned her head away. "Imagine! The fate of the world in the hands of a child." Basam rolled his eyes at what appeared to be a budding argument and quietly took his leave, unnoticed by the other two.

"I really don't think you're being entirely fair to the boy," Kuei protested.

"And I really don't think it was fair of the boy to punish our tribe on account of one idiotic jerk," she retorted. "Most of the guys that helped with the thieving weren't even ours. He very nearly stranded a bunch of us in the middle of the desert. Getting stuck out there's a death sentence, okay? _And_ he went all Avatar spirit glowing and would've flat-out killed us if that Water Tribe girl hadn't stopped him."

He frowned, unsure of how to respond, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend to start an argument. Some guest I make!"

"Aw, never mind that. Not your fault you didn't know the whole story. 'Sides, a good argument can be fun sometimes, y'know?" she assured him.

"Arguing, tavern brawls… I do believe you and I are operating under different definitions of 'fun'," he ventured. She didn't leave him time to worry that he'd been too forward with his attempted joke—she immediately grinned her approval and thumped her fist against her knee.

"Aha! Just as I thought—you _do_ have a sense of humor!" she said gleefully. By then, the teapot was empty and the fire had burned down to softly glowing embers. Zafirah scrubbed the teacups and pot, then left Kuei to dry them and went off to the washroom. She emerged a few minutes later, running a comb through her unbraided hair. "All right, well, you know where you're sleeping. I'm over there behind that curtain. Do yourself a favor and stay out, hmm? Off you go." She made a shooing gesture with her free hand as she walked past him towards her own bed.

"Um, Zafirah…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She glanced back at him out of the corner of her eye, slightly surprised by the sincerity in his voice. He started to say something else but faltered under her speculative gaze, then rushed onward. "To bring a stranger into your home, to shelter a man you barely—not that I would even _think_ of—I wouldn't _ever_—" She cut off his increasingly convoluted outpour of gratitude with a mystified smile and a dismissive handwave.

"_Good night_, Kuei," she said pointedly.

"Good night. Sleep well," he answered, somewhat relieved for the interruption. As he settled into his borrowed bed, it occurred to him that no one had ever argued with him before.

* * *

He could hear thunder in the distance. A storm was drawing near, and someone was shouting his name. The voice was familiar; the last remnants of a dream. He searched for the source of the voice. _We have to find shelter_, he said urgently. _We have to_— he snapped awake as something grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him into a sitting position. It was Zafirah, crouching over him with an almost palpable aura of fear about her. Her face was ashen and twisted in panic.

"_Fire Nation_!" she hissed. She let go of him so suddenly that he fell backwards onto the straw mattress again and dashed away up the ladder. He watched her go, uncomprehending. Then her words sank in and his blood ran cold. He bolted after her but froze in the doorway of the shop, rooted to the spot in horror at the sight that met him.

One thing that made the Fire Nation so deadly was that they never did anything halfway. They certainly didn't _need_ that many troops just to attack a ragtag settlement of Sandbenders, but with the oasis' tiny population and any reinforcements scattered miles and miles away across the vast desert…well, it was a sure path to an unquestionable victory.

Something caught his eye, drawing his gaze upward. It hovered there in the night sky like a malevolent crimson spirit, and as he watched, the Fire Nation soldiers in the gondola beneath the balloon hurled another bomb down onto the perimeter of the oasis. Thunder roared through the night again and the explosion cast a ghastly orange glow over the battle raging on the ground, through the sand and smoke in the air. Bosco lumbered over and bumped his nose against his master's hand.

"They have flying machines, Bosco," Kuei murmured numbly. "The Fire Nation has flying machines, Spirits help us…" The next bomb hit beside the cantina, and in its glare he caught sight of Zafirah surrounded by Firebenders. Even in the terror of the moment, he had to admit that she cut an impressive figure, silhouetted against the burning buildings of the oasis with her long hair swinging around her as she whipped arcs of sand at the soldiers, spinning and twisting amidst the men in fluid, powerful movements. But then he saw another soldier, standing with his back to Kuei and taking aim at the Sandbender woman. "I have to help her," he rasped through a throat suddenly dry with panic. "I can't just…" He cast about frantically for some way to intervene on his rescuer's behalf, wishing not for the first time that he hadn't let Long Feng talk him out of martial arts lessons when he was a boy_. Harder to control someone if they can give you a good, solid thrashing, I imagine,_ he thought bitterly. Then his eyes landed on a blue and white war club on a nearby shelf. He felt slightly dizzy as he wrapped his right hand around its grip and hefted the weapon, testing its unfamiliar weight. In all of his twenty-five years he had never once lifted his hand in violence to another human being, but by the Spirits, he had to do _something_, even if it meant… he fought down a surge of queasiness and took a deep breath. Before he could lose his nerve, he spun to the door and charged out into the fray.

The distance between himself and the soldier seemed to vanish impossibly quickly, as though he was moving through a dream. Smoke stung at his eyes and burned in his lungs and the club felt much too heavy in his hand and the soldier seemed to get bigger and bigger as he closed in, and then he was _there_ and he was swinging the club, and someone was shouting hoarsely and he felt fairly certain that the someone was him. The soldier turned, dodging the strike with positively _mortifying_ ease, and his armored fist drove straight at Kuei's head. He heard the blow connect and saw points of light erupt in front of his eyes before he felt the pain from it. The last thing he saw was Zafirah, hearing his shout, whirling around towards him with dark brown eyes widened in shock, and then the world went black.

* * *

**Ouch, somehow I don't think Kuei thought his cunning plan all the way through! D:**

**One last thing I'd like to say before we end this chapter: This is most likely going to be a slow-updating fic. Some people can write a chapter a week, I can't. I'm about to graduate from college, so my free time IRL is limited. However, I promise that I will eventually finish this story! I won't abandon it unless something catastrophic happens. So if you like what you've read so far and want to find out where this story is going, please don't give up on it just because it takes a while to update! Thanks, and I'll see you in Chapter 2! :) **


	3. Chapter 2

**Thanks again to Kitty East for their fantastic betaing, and thanks to the people who have reviewed so far. If you left a signed review you've probably already gotten a response from me, so I won't bother repeating myself here with individual replies. I will say to all of you, however, that your words are a great motivation to me. **

**Okay, I'm just gonna say that this chapter was tough to write. It's pretty dark, since Zafi and Basam have to deal with the aftermath of the attack and all. I've never written this much angst before, so this is kind of new territory for me. I won't lie, I'm glad to be done with this chapter. I'm proud of the end result (I wouldn't even consider posting it if I wasn't!) but I'm glad to be moving on to Chapter 3. **

**Also, here's a screencap of the oasis so you can get a better idea of the terrain being described in this chapter. As before, just remove the spaces to make the link work: ****http: / / i9. photobucket. com/ albums/ a81/ bananaslug42/ oasis. png**

**Also: From now on, I'll be putting the playlists at the end. Otherwise, the explanations of where each song fits into the chapter will start getting into spoiler territory very soon!****  
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_Edited 5/6/10 to add scene/POV transition markers._

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* * *

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**CHAPTER 2- THE DESERT OF THE DEAD**

The sun was rising over the Si Wong Desert. The fight was done—it hadn't lasted very long, hardly an hour. Not that it would, with such slanted numbers. The Fire Nation had never really held with the idea of a fair fight.

Those that survived knelt with bound wrists in the middle of the oasis, rooted to the ground by the stony stares of the Firebender troops that surrounded them like a living wall of red and black monsters. The scum-sucking hogmonkey of a commander had decided that the prisoners were wanting a lesson in showing proper respect for the superior element of Fire; some knelt willingly, and the rest got an armored boot to the backs of their knees. The corpses of those that hadn't lived lay scattered at the survivors' feet, left where they'd fallen on the fire-blackened sand—the troops wanted out of the desert and back to civilized lands as quickly as they could manage, and they weren't about to waste time on cleaning up dead vermin. The flying machine had left already, sailing off to more important tasks.

Zafirah couldn't shake the thought, sticking like a poisoned barb in her mind, that the dead were the lucky ones. Basam was at her left side, tense as an archer's bowstring. Sprawled on her right was the bizarre tourist who'd blundered into her life just hours ago, before her world had broken apart into a thousand knife-sharp pieces. The Spirits-be-damned fool had gone and gotten himself punched in the face; he still had the Water Tribe war club from the shop gripped in his right fist. He stirred, waking up, and his eyes slowly opened. Well, one of them did, since his right eye was swollen shut. The vivid green of his left eye looked too bright next to the ugly purple and black mess. She just barely had the sense to put a finger to her lips, telling him to stay quiet. He gazed searchingly at her for a moment, and whatever it was he saw in her face left his own pale with horror. Then he frowned in confusion as he looked past her and took in the sight of wood planks over their heads.

In the heat of battle, Zafirah had panicked. She'd gotten the outsider half-awake enough to stumble along with an arm across her shoulders, and gone to find Basam— she'd found him wreaking havoc in a cluster of soldiers, snarling every insult he knew of while Sandbending with one hand (and both feet) and swinging a hammer with the other, Spirits bless him. With an explosion distracting the soldiers, they'd crept away from the fight. Basam was none too happy about abandoning the battle, but even less happy about leaving his sister's side. None of the soldiers had seen them steal away to hide beneath one of the sand gliders moored just outside the wall. From this shameful hiding spot, they looked on through grief-cloudy eyes as their friends, rivals, and kinsmen were beaten down and rounded up like wooly-pigs.

The triple-cursed commander was parading around in front of his prisoners, chest puffed out, with a sickening smile on his thin lips like he was having tea with his mama. When he started talking, his voice carried all the way out to the sand glider.

"Sandbenders," he boomed. Like his smile (which widened as he wound up for the crowning moment of his victory) the friendly tone of his voice was about as inviting as a fireball. "The generals of the mighty Fire Nation military have long believed that Ba Sing Se was the last great Earth Kingdom stronghold. They believed that once the Impenetrable City fell, the glory of the Firelord's reign would at last reach every corner of this barbaric land. But that wasn't entirely correct, was it? No, for it was _this_ accursed wasteland, this vast expanse of nothingness, that was truly the last refuge of the Earth Kingdom. The Si Wong Desert—'Desert of the Dead' in the old tongue." The Fire-freak's smile twisted into a cruel smirk. Oh yes, he was having a grand old time speechifying at his captured savages. Kuei moved to sit up, to see what was going on, but Zafirah pushed a fingertip against his shoulder to keep him down; they couldn't risk anyone spotting the movement, small though it was. The commander's chest puffed out even more and he went on.

"For one hundred years, the tribes of the Si Wong Desert have kept their freedom. Even the most elite Firebender troops would be brought to their knees by this place. For one hundred years, the Sandbender tribes have hidden away amidst these dunes, secure in the knowledge that they and they alone could survive here. Well, no more. As you can see, we have taken the skies with our war balloons—and with the skies under our command, the desert has fallen."

_The desert has fallen_. The words hit Zafirah like a strike to the face. They tore through her heart and left an aching hollow in its path and a ringing in her ears. _There's no stopping them now. No one's safe. No one's safe…_ She felt Basam's hand clutch her own with a white-knuckled grip. The press of his palm against hers was her only anchor in the roaring, swirling nightmare that had swallowed her thoughts. She felt warm wetness on her cheek: tears. She hadn't cried in nearly four years, not since—

The commander clapped his hands and the soldiers started rousing the prisoners. Some couldn't stand on their own and were kicked to the dirt for their efforts before being hauled to a stand. She caught sight of Ghashiun, face twisted in pain as he got dragged upwards by his ponytail; beside him was Fung, a kindly old guy who sat patiently at the cantina's pai sho table day after day, waiting for a worthy challenger. A soldier seized him by the tattered collar of his tunic and wrenched the frail little man to his feet. The siblings watched helplessly while the soldiers shoved the captive Sandbenders into a line and chained their already bound hands. The Firebenders herded their spoils of war to the convoy of metal carts gathered on the crest of the grassy slope that lead down to the oasis' main gate. Zafirah turned her head away.

None of the three dared move a muscle until the clank and scrape of metal wheels and the grunting of ostrich-horses faded in the distance. Silence fell in the convoy's wake, grasping the lifeless oasis in a stranglehold.

* * *

Zafirah's homeland had never frightened her much. She respected the desert, but she wasn't often intimidated by it. Out there, living in that sea of dunes, some would've been done in by the loneliness. Zafirah and her brother had never once had such a problem—until that day. She held fast to Basam's arm as they drifted through what was left of the main gate and right into a graveyard. As they stood surrounded by smoking ruins and half-burned corpses, she felt the deadly vastness of the desert more keenly than she ever had. They were on their own, cut adrift with only each other… and a strange outsider.

Zafirah shot a sidelong glance at Kuei; he was looking at the scorched sand with an odd bleakness, a sadness that ran far too deep to be just worry over the fates of a bunch of Sandbenders. Some tiny part of her mind, some far corner that wasn't yet lost in grief, wondered if he was seeing Ba Sing Se with that hazy stare.

The siblings' hut had escaped the bombs, but it felt wrong to retreat to the comfort of their house with the bodies of their kinsmen lying in the dirt like yesterday's garbage.

She and her brother gave voice to the same thought. "We gotta bury them." The twins looked at each other. Tears cut trails through the soot on Basam's cheeks. Kuei stepped closer and lifted his hand, then dropped it again.

"Is there—do you have a shovel?" he asked timidly.

"We're Sandbenders," Basam mumbled dazedly, not looking at the other man.

"Yes, but I-I thought… I could help you." His voice shook. Zafirah forced her gaze off of the horrible sight in front of them and turned it towards the outsider, and saw the misery that clawed at her lungs echoed in his face. _Ba Sing Se_. The name flared through her stormy thoughts like a match being struck. The siblings had been cut adrift, but Kuei was stuck right there with them in the same Spirits-forsaken boat.

She reached out and clasped his shoulder; he flinched a little and his eyes flickered sideways to her hand, as if startled by the contact. "Go down to the pantry. You'll see a green jar of salve in there. It'll heal your eye up faster," she told him, her words coming out a bone-dry croak. Kuei hesitated.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do…?" he asked.

"It's awful kind of you, but this is our duty," Basam said. He put a heavy hand on Kuei's other shoulder and managed a faint grimace trying to be a smile. Kuei frowned, then nodded and shuffled back to the weapons shop. The two Sandbenders turned to the task ahead of them. "We'll move 'em outside the wall," her brother said softly. Zafirah murmured agreement. The siblings took Bending stances and began their grisly work.

* * *

Kuei felt guilt wash over him anew as he entered the pantry. The room was smaller than he'd assumed, its shelves alarmingly barren. These people had nothing, and still they opened their home to a stranger—a stranger whose arrival had been accompanied by misfortune. He couldn't fight the chilling thought that perhaps the Fire Nation had followed him to the desert… But no, surely he wasn't enough of a threat to warrant that much effort? Nevertheless, the fact remained that disaster had shadowed his footsteps with relentless consistency for the last several weeks.

Bosco rumbled sadly and nudged Kuei's arm as he emerged from the pantry with the green jar in hand. The bear had fled to the basement during the attack; Kuei found him huddled in a corner, quaking and growling. He absently scratched the bear's ears with his spare hand as he ducked into the washroom and set his spectacles on the shelf beside him, astonished that he hadn't lost them in the fight.

The reflection in the dusty mirror was an unfamiliar image. Black eyes were most emphatically _not_ a part of the 52nd Earth King's life. Nor was the grim weariness in his eyes. Nor was charging headlong into battle against a Fire Nation soldier for the sake of a Sandbender he'd known for less than twelve hours. He inhaled deeply to steady himself.

The 52nd Earth King squeezed his eyes shut, wincing at the pain that shot through the right side of his face as he did. He felt himself teetering at the edge of the map, a hair's breadth from the unknown. Kuei opened his eyes and exhaled slowly.

* * *

Kuei was dozing fitfully against Bosco's flank when Zafirah and Basam returned from the burial.

"Outsider's got the right idea," Basam said. "We oughta try and rest, too. Y'know what needs to be done next." Zafirah nodded weakly. Yeah, she knew: eighty years ago, the elders of the tribes had made an accord. They vowed that if the Fire Nation couldn't be kept out of the desert anymore, anybody that survived the first attacks would carry a warning across the dunes to the others. Come sundown, the siblings would head off to the open desert to deliver the word that the desert was no longer safe. "I had plenty of shut-eye yesterday," he went on. "You sleep, I'll get to packing." She just nodded again, too drained to force words out. Basam pulled his sister into a tight hug, then steered her over to her bed. "Sleep," he told her.

She settled onto her mattress, hardly aware she'd even moved until she found herself staring listlessly at the ceiling. She rolled onto her side and turned her restless gaze on Kuei and Bosco through a gap in the curtain.

_There's no escaping the flame-throwing scum-beasts, not anymore_, she thought. _No matter how far you run…_ Exhaustion won out and she drifted off.

* * *

Packing for their journey was easy enough. There wasn't much to pack—most of the food from the pantry, all of the water skins the siblings had on hand (plus a few scavenged from neighboring huts), and very little else. The Sandbenders had only a couple extra sets of clothes between them, and of course there were non-essentials like Basam's shaving razor and her hair comb, but that was about it. Kuei's personal belongings amounted to the clothes on his back, Bosco, and now a Water Tribe war club. Zafirah had flat-out refused to let him give it back; he probably couldn't have hit Si Wong Rock at half a pace with the damned thing, but the way she saw it, he wasn't exactly losing anything by keeping it on him.

It was a good weapon for him, she'd decided. It was just as awkward and out-of-place here as he was. One of Ghashiun's cronies from outside the tribe had brought it to her after the mess with the Avatar, and it had been sitting on that shelf in their store ever since… until last night, that is.

There was a sand glider waiting for them just outside the main gate, its prow facing into the west, with most of their supplies already carefully stowed away on it. At dusk they would set out to sail it across the desert. Kuei had volunteered to go with them as navigator and watchman. When they found another tribe, they'd pass along their warning, and whichever tribe they found would spread the word to the others. They'd leave Kuei and Bosco at the edge of the desert to wander off wherever that outdated map might take them, and then…? Zafirah was trying not to think about what would happen to herself and her brother after they reached the end of their journey. First things first—the Desert of the Dead was waiting for them. She'd worry about the future if they survived long enough for it to become a problem.

They'd have to travel at night; their guest wasn't used to the harshness of the sun out on the dunes, and, well, there was a reason Sandbenders went in groups when going into the open desert in daylight. With just the two of them, there'd be no one to take over if thirst or the heat overtook them.

Down in the basement, Basam picked up the last of the supply sacks and slung them over his shoulder, mustering up the most reassuring smile he could manage as he passed by. Zafirah did her best to echo it, despite the horrible, aching hollowness in her chest. Her twin always had a smile to offer anybody that couldn't find one of their own. Their parents had always said—

She took another shaky breath and fought against the sudden stinging in the corners of her eyes. She glanced around the basement; this was their home, hers and her parents' and her brother's, and as much of a pain as it was living in a place like the desert, it was still _theirs_.

Her gaze landed on Kuei, sitting in the middle of the floor with Bosco lounging beside him. He was exactly where she'd left him half an hour ago: doing his damnedest to follow her instructions to make his outfit "desert-proof". The clothes he had left him with bare arms and lower legs, which was just asking for trouble in the open desert, even without the blazing sun. So she'd given him a shirt with elbow-length sleeves (borrowed from her brother) and a bundle of spare bindings to cover himself up with; he'd already swapped his own shirt with the borrowed one and done a passing job of covering his legs, and was now completely failing at wrapping his right hand. Zafirah rolled her eyes and sat cross-legged next to the outsider, secretly glad for the distraction.

"Gimme," she said, hands reaching out for his. "We'll be here all day if you keep that pace up."

Kuei hastily drew his hands in towards his chest. "No, no, that's quite all right, I think I nearly have it," he declared.

"No, seriously, give 'em here. We don't wear those things for fun. You'll get yourself hurt if they're done wrong." He reluctantly let her grab hold of his right hand, and she began wrapping the cloth around his knuckles with the ease that comes from a lifetime of daily practice. His skin felt smooth and soft under her callused fingertips. _Yep, definitely from a rich, noble background, probably never done a single day's hard work…_ Kuei winced again as his eye twinged.

Zafirah half-smiled in sympathy, recalling black eyes of her own. "That's what you get when you pick the wrong fight," she said, not unkindly. "Why'd you do that, anyway? Felt like takin' a swing at a Firebender?" He looked up at her, his left eye so wide and solemn it was almost comical.

"That coward was about to attack you while your back was turned," he said. Zafirah's hand froze on his for a second, then she recovered and kept wrapping.

"That guy was after me?" she said, working to keep her voice even.

"Yes, I'm certain of it. He was preparing a fire blast. I had to at least _try_ to stop him." He made a sound that might have been a chuckle and brushed his fingers over his eye. "I'm afraid it didn't work very well, did it?" he asked wryly.

"It did, as a matter of fact. I never saw him coming. Didn't even know he was there till I heard you yellin' your fool head off. He'd have roasted me." _Bleeding hogmonkeys, he saved my life._

"Well then, I suppose it was worth a punch in the face," he said, the corners of his mouth tugging upward a little. She studied this bizarre outsider from the corner of her eye, sitting there in a folded-up tangle of thin, gangly limbs and the most _absurd_ hodgepodge of clothing she'd ever seen, grimacing and cautiously touching his black eye—probably the first one he'd ever gotten. She couldn't have imagined an unlikelier hero. He only had one Spirits-be-damned sandal, for crying out loud! But there it was—she owed him her life. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. There were plenty of unpleasant favors a nobleman could demand from a peasant to cover such a debt. She recalled his clumsy but undeniably honest words from the night before: _not that I would even think of—I wouldn't ever_—

No. He'd saved her life because it was _the right thing to do_, and that made her all kinds of uneasy. Outsiders didn't go around helping Sandbenders out of kindness—it was a basic rule of her world, and he had no idea he'd broken it. She tied off the binding above his elbow and beckoned for his other hand.

_I'll be keeping my eye on you, outsider_, she thought. Before he'd just been an amusing oddity, but now he was a riddle. And Zafirah never could pass up a good riddle.

* * *

**By the way, the part about Kuei only having one sandal? Totally canon, and I have the screencaps from "The Awakening" to prove it! **

**http: / / i9. photobucket. com/ albums/ a81/ bananaslug42/ ep41-360. png**

**The playlist: Most of these songs aren't related to the plot. I'm just establishing some character themes here. (Missing Youtube links are being updated.)  
**

**1) "Two Hornpipes (Tortuga)", Hans Zimmer [Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest]—Zafirah's theme. **

**2) "12 Years Later", James Newton Howard [Treasure Planet]—Basam's theme.  
**

**3) "Stroll Through the Sky", Joe Hisaishi [Howl's Moving Castle]—Kuei's theme.  
**

**4) "Goodbye Brother", Hans Zimmer [Prince of Egypt]—The theme for Chapter 2.  
**


	4. Interlude

**Hey guys! Remember me? No, I'm not dead and I haven't abandoned this story. My beta and I have both been very busy over the past few weeks. Plus, I got distracted by the mind-blowing epic awesomeness that is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (which I highly recommend watching, BTW, if you haven't seen it yet. It's amazing). But fear not! TTGL may have claimed the second-place spot on my favorite series list, but my loyalty to ATLA remains unshaken! ^_^**

**This isn't Chapter 3. I'm still working on it. Please forgive me, guys! In the meantime, I'd like to offer up this interlude chapter. It's a short piece inspired by "Be Prepared" from **_**The Lion King**_**, and it focuses on everyone's favorite evil bureaucrat, Long Feng! (Let's face it, Long Feng is totally Scar.) Timeline: Takes place shortly before the Prologue. **

**Playlist: "Be Prepared", obviously. **

**http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= L0AiN8vrn9Y**

**

* * *

**

**A SHINING NEW ERA**

It was for the good of the people, of course. Long Feng had ruled Ba Sing Se for the past twenty-one years, after all, no matter what that idiot Kuei thought. Now he was simply making the arrangement official.

Yes, Ba Sing Se would finally have a powerful ruler on the throne. And Long Feng would finally be rid of that vile, inane, blathering imbecile. His lip curled in disgust as he thought of the young monarch locked away in the newly reestablished Lake Laogai prison. Really though, he had no one to blame but himself for the boy's intolerable nature. Long Feng had done everything in his power to sequester Kuei far, far away from reality, and to fill his mind with frivolities. At twenty-five years old, the boy was still as useless as a child. True, Long Feng had created a spineless shadow puppet in Kuei; but surely he was allowed to despise his own creation?

The disposal of the Earth King was only the beginning, though—there were so many improvements to be made! And he would begin with the Dai Li.

He recalled what Lieutenant Jianjun had said to him during his imprisonment: "The Council of Five and the military are loyal to the Earth King, but the Dai Li remains loyal to you, Long Feng, sir." Ha, loyal indeed! The Fire whelp had easily swayed them to her command. What a disgraceful sight it had been, the Earth Kingdom's most elite soldiers frozen in fear of a fifteen-year-old brat! His agents believed all to be forgiven now, but Long Feng hadn't forgotten. Once the throne was securely under his rule, he would deal with his men. He needed soldiers who were fit to serve in this new, post-war era.

Oh yes, he would be quite busy soon enough. The world was changing before his very eyes, and Ba Sing Se would be at the forefront of it all. The capitol required a strong, competent leader, one who would make the difficult choices. If that meant Kuei's death, then so be it.


	5. Chapter 3

**Yes, dear readers, CST lives on! After a long delay, we are finally back on course! Here, at last, is Chapter 3. I said in the AN's for the Prologue that I wouldn't abandon this story, and I intend to keep that promise! ^_^ I will continue updating CST all the way to the end, no matter how long it takes.**

**Also, I am now a registered Beta Reader for FFN! If you'd like to enlist my help as your beta, go check out my shiny new Beta Profile and drop me a PM! **

**Thanks to quantumreality over on Journalfen for betaing, and to my reviewers. There aren't very many of you, but your words are deeply appreciated. And those of you reading and not reviewing (yes, I know you're there!): I'm not asking for heaps and heaps of praise, but I'd love to know what you think of my story! Advice, suggestions, questions, comments? **

* * *

**CHAPTER 3—A JOURNEY BEGINS **

The sun was setting above the far-distant sand dunes in the west. Its fading rays silhouetted the two Sandbenders standing atop the glider's navigation platform. They held their hands stiffly at their sides as they cast shrewd, wary gazes over their land. The smaller, more slender figure swept an arm out in a graceful arc to point at something off in the distance, head inclining slightly, the taller and broad-shouldered one nodding in agreement to whatever words passed between them. The reddish orange glow that surrounded them brought unpleasant images of the night's battle to the forefront of Kuei's mind as he and Bosco approached the glider. The two shifted to face him, their dark eyes shining through the gaps in their head coverings.

Zafirah hopped down from the platform, landing easily on the soft sand, and strode over to him. He spied a dagger from the shop strapped to her lower leg, the brass decorations on its sheath glinting in the light. Clucking her tongue at his haphazardly wrapped head coverings, she reached up and started tugging the offending cloth into a more suitable arrangement. Kuei lowered his head and did his best to stand patiently while she worked. He wondered if most Sandbenders were prone to such casual invasions of personal space, or if it was a habit unique to this particular one. He didn't necessarily find it unpleasant—it was just _odd_. No one in Ba Sing Se would _dare_ touch the Earth King without permission. He thought back to the Avatar's group and the way they would embrace in comfort or solidarity, or place reassuring hands on one another's shoulders; he recalled Toph's arm punches (and the ensuing bruises), and the way the Water Tribesmen would clasp each other's forearms in greeting. Clearly, this was something Kuei would just have to accustom himself to.

"We're setting a course for Si Wong Rock," Zafirah explained as she rearranged the fabric. "That's where the tribes meet whenever there's trouble like this. Chances are, some folks from the open-desert tribes have seen the smoke and they're already on their way. If not, we'll have a clear view for miles around from the top of the rock. We might spot one of the tribes from up there, sail out to meet 'em. Might take a couple days, though."

"It sounds as though these other tribes prefer not to be found too easily," he commented.

"Yep; they don't stay in one place too long. Or _can't_, really, even if they wanted to—they gotta go where the food and water is. We'd be the same way without the iceberg here. You catch on fast," she commented, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she smiled behind her head coverings. She stepped back and lifted her right hand in a thumbs-up. Kuei hesitantly returned the unfamiliar gesture, trying to ignore the claustrophobic feel of the cloth surrounding his head. A fresh coating of salve over his black eye kept it from stinging where the fabric brushed against the edges of the bruise.

Basam whistled from his place on the platform and Zafirah turned, catching the spyglass that he tossed to her. She handed it to Kuei with a dramatic flair that brought a small smile to his face despite his glum mood. Bosco nudged his nose against the woman's hand, feeling left out. Zafirah sighed resignedly and gingerly patted the bear's furry head.

"C'mon, you two," Basam called from the glider. "We got us a desert to cross." Kuei followed Zafirah to the glider, where she set both hands upon the lower platform to the left of the navigator's post and hoisted herself up and onto it in one smooth movement. Basam leaped down with a solid _thud_ to join them on the platform and stretched a hand down to Kuei, who decided that now was not the time for prideful attempts at proving himself and wordlessly took the other man's offered assistance.

"Now the real question is, where do we put Furball there?" Zafirah mused, narrowing her eyes at Bosco.

"He oughta go up on the navigator's post. The glider'll be off-balance any other way," Basam pointed out.

"I was afraid you'd say that," she muttered. Getting Bosco up to the platform turned out to be quite a feat, but eventually both Kuei and his pet were at their assigned post. Basam took up his place on a third platform to the right of Kuei's post, and they were as ready to leave as they'd ever be. The Sandbenders took firmly rooted stances, feet planted apart and knees bent, and lifted their arms with their fingers outstretched. Moving as one, the siblings swept their arms back and thrust them forward, once, twice, three times. A gust of sand whirled up behind the sail hanging slack between the double hulls, growing and pulsing. The yellow cloth billowed and snapped outward when the swirling sand became a tornado, pulling its lines taut, and the glider sprang to life. Kuei gasped and nearly lost his balance as the little wooden vessel jumped forward. He couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation as he glanced back at the oasis, already shrinking in their wake—there he was, setting out for destinations unknown across the dunes of the perilous Si Wong Desert! If only their voyage hadn't started under such tragic circumstances, it would have been the adventure he'd always dreamed of.

* * *

Zafirah fell into a steady rhythm as the dunes rolled past: arms casting forward, swinging back, over and over again. The rhythm was soothingly familiar in the madness of the past night. Their glider felt sluggish under the added bulk of Kuei's Spirits-be-damned pet. _A lion turtle'd weigh less_, she thought peevishly. The owner of said slobbery hair-beast perched above her with his sights aimed at the horizon, keeping a weather eye out for any sign that the Fire-freaks might come back for a second round.

Cast forward, swing back, cast forward.

The sand around them went from burned gold to pale grey as the sun's last light died and the first stars shone out above their heads.

Cast forward, swing back, cast forward.

The sky darkened into blue-black, save for the silver light of a crescent moon squinting down at them. Kuei checked the compass bound to the front of his post and called out a new course heading, just like they'd told him to. The man _was_ a fast learner.

Cast forward, swing back, and call a halt. She wasn't tired yet and she knew Basam wasn't either, but they needed food and water, tired or not. Wouldn't do to push themselves too far. The three people and the bear ate and drank in silence and moved on quickly.

* * *

The first leg of the trip went smoothly enough. The trio sailed through the night until the faint light of dawn began to brighten the eastern sky. The Sandbenders lowered their arms, sinking the sand-tornado back into the earth, and the glider coasted to a stop. With the glider turned westward to face away from the oncoming brutality of the day's heat, the three of them lashed down the corners of the sail, stretching it tight between the hulls and the navigator's post so that it became a shelter against the sun. They retrieved some food and necessities from their supplies, coaxed Bosco down from the glider platform (an even more trying task than getting him up there to begin with) and retreated to the shade of their makeshift tent. The trio sat in a huddled circle, while Bosco curled up behind his master, and tucked into their rations.

"So what's it like living in Ba Sing Se?" Basam asked suddenly, helping himself to a second portion of the dried fruit and pig-chicken jerky that comprised their dinner. Kuei paused with a strip of dried meat halfway to his mouth and glanced at the Sandbender.

"Yeah," Zafirah chimed in. "What'd you do there, what kinda folks did you know?" The two looked at him with nothing but open, friendly curiosity in their eyes. _Don't be paranoid_, he scolded himself.

"I was a student," he began slowly, "I had just graduated from the University of Ba Sing Se when the coup happened."

"Student, huh? Did you ever take any classes with, uh, now what was his name…" She drummed her fingers against her knee. "Zei! There we go. Professor Zei, 'head of Anthropology and expert on exotic cultures'." She rolled her eyes.

"Ah, no, that… that wasn't my department," Kuei said quickly. "You didn't get along well with him, I assume?"

"What I didn't get along with was the notion of bein' an 'exotic culture'," she replied with an annoyed snort.

"He _did_ have a habit of talkin' at us Sandbenders like we were all slow in the head," Basam admitted, tapping one forefinger against his temple. "He'd turn up now and then, rambling at anybody who'd listen about some Spirit Library—"

"—And he'd wander off into the open desert on the hunt for the damned thing, and we _tried_ tellin' him that he was goin' about it all wrong—" Zafirah cut in.

"—But he brushed us off every time, like he knew our desert better than us—" Basam continued, gesturing animatedly as he picked up the cadence of a well-practiced storyteller.

"He was the 'expert' after all, hah!"

"He'd drag his sorry behind back to the oasis a few days later, half-dead from thirst and the heat—no luck on the library, of course. Sometimes he'd drink too much sake when he came back, and _then_ he'd get going on a rant about 'those nearsighted, narrow-minded ignoramuses who dare call themselves scholars' back at the University…"

Kuei couldn't help but smile as the rapid-fire conversation danced from one topic to another—from the misadventures of the professor, to all the various dishes of Ba Sing Se cuisine that would've been preferable to pig-chicken jerky, to swapping myths, legends, jokes and riddles (at which point Kuei discovered that he was rather bad at telling the former but excellent at answering the latter). When the three finally settled down to get some rest, Kuei fell asleep with a lightness of spirit that would have seemed impossible the night before.

* * *

The winds had picked up while the three slept, sweeping across the dunes from the southwest. Zafirah peered out into the sunset-lit desert, shielding her eyes against the grains of sand flying on the breeze.

"Not a good sign," Basam muttered to her as they repacked the glider.

"Yeah, no kidding," Zafirah whispered back. "Think we're headed for trouble?"

"Could be. Probably, with the way things're going for us lately. Let's not scare the tourist just yet, though."

"Keep this between us for now," she agreed. They glanced over at Kuei, who waved back at them cheerily before going back to coaxing Bosco up to his spot—without much success—and back at each other. "Spirits and ancestors," Zafirah sighed as the weight of the situation crashed over her again. "What a mess this is."

Basam clasped his hands behind his head and shrugged. "Hey, it could be worse."

"How? How could this possibly be worse?" she demanded.

"Gimme a minute, I'm sure I'll think of something," he answered lightly.

"Thanks, that's helpful," Zafirah grumbled. Her brother shot her a crooked grin.

"Sure thing, sister."

The winds were getting stronger still. About an hour later, as they sailed towards the dark bulk of Si Wong Rock in the distance, Kuei aimed his spyglass back to look out over their wake. When he spoke up, his voice quaked.

"Za…Zafirah? Basam? I, uh… Behind us…?" Zafirah glanced over her shoulder and felt a sudden chill through every corner of her body. She heard a hoarse curse from Basam as he caught sight of it, too.

It thundered across the sands towards them, gaining on them with every minute: the boiling front of a towering sandstorm. She shot a desperate look forward at Si Wong Rock, but it was too far away. They'd never make it to the leeward side before the front caught up, and all the Sandbending in the world wouldn't protect them from a storm of this size. With ten of their kin at their side, they might have stood a chance. The two of them, alone against this monster? It was a fight they couldn't win. _Oh, no. No, no, no, no no no no! Spirits, please no… _Raw, animal panic set her blood on fire, and her mind flashed to memories from four years ago: the one survivor from their parents' foraging party, stumbling back into the oasis with news of a sandstorm that had hit them off-guard… _Spirits, Spirits, no…_

* * *

Kuei couldn't tear his eyes from the monstrous wall of sand hurtling towards their helpless little glider. He may not have known Professor Zei personally, but Kuei had read more than a few of his essays on the Si Wong Desert. Three of the most common causes of death among the tribes were dehydration, starvation… and the desert's infamously massive sandstorms, arising from the frequent high winds that sped unimpeded across miles and miles of open desert. Somehow, the sight of that storm was almost more frightening than the Firebenders they had faced. Fire Nation soldiers were cruel and ruthless, but they were nonetheless mortal men—and mortal men could be defeated. The awful thing about to engulf them didn't bleed, didn't hesitate, and it never showed mercy.

"Halt! _Halt_!" Zafirah shrieked in a voice choked with terror. She and her brother swung the glider around so it stopped sideways to the oncoming storm. The twins all but flew off of their platforms and rushed to heap sand up along the windward hull to hold it down. Kuei finally wrenched his gaze off of the storm and leaped down to join them.

"What should I do?" he shouted fretfully over the howling winds.

"Remember how we lashed down the sail this morning?" Zafirah answered tersely, not taking her eyes off of her Sandbending.

"Y-yes, I do, yes."

"Lash it down again, and tie it tight!" He vaulted over the hull to reach the sail and seized hold of the first corner, fumbling at the ropes with sweat-slicked hands that shook from the blinding adrenaline coursing through him. After what felt like hours of agonizingly slow work, the third corner was tied down.

"Done!" he yelled. Zafirah was a tan blur as she hurtled past him, seizing his arm and hauling him into the cramped shelter with Basam following close on their heels. Kuei called to Bosco, who must have understood the urgency of the situation—he hurried to his master's side without a trace of his earlier stubbornness. The three crouched down in a huddled circle beneath the glider, while Bosco curled his furry mass between them and the uncovered end of the shelter, as if shielding them. _A fine time for his animal instincts to wake up!_ Kuei thought wryly. He jumped as a pair of slit-eyed goggles were thrust into his line of sight. Looking up, he saw that both Sandbenders were already sporting similar eyewear.

"Keep the sand out of your eyes," Zafirah said. The deafening roar of the winds raging around them nearly drowned out her words. He tucked his eyeglasses into his pocket and slipped on the goggles. He hardly felt the ache of the stiff material pressing against his bruised eye.

And then the storm was upon them. The scream of straining wood planks lent an eerie edge to the cacophony as the oncoming wall of sand slammed into the glider. Kuei's heart lurched in his chest, as for a breathless moment it seemed that the vessel wouldn't hold against the maelstrom. Gusts of sand streamed in through tiny gaps in the planks. He could see Zafirah shivering next to him. She sat with her knees drawn tightly up against her chest and her head bowed, her slender fingers rooting absently through the sand at her feet.

Time stretched on in their flimsy shelter, minutes indistinguishable from hours. From his left, he heard Basam's husky voice lift in the strains of a song he didn't recognize—barely audible at first, then slowly rising above the howling winds. He was singing in the old tongue, Kuei realized, a language from the days before the first Earth King had united the scattered towns and cities into one kingdom. He glanced at the other man; the Sandbender had produced a stone talisman from a pocket somewhere and was tracing his fingers over its smooth sides as he sang. Basam sang on by himself for a few moments, then Zafirah picked up the tune as well. Kuei lowered his head, his eyes sliding shut. After a while, he realized that he was humming the melody along with them.

The song faltered when several planks gave way under the hammering winds with a sickening crack. Sand poured through the rupture and into the shelter; trying to block it would have been an exercise in futility. The voices quavered so much that the words were all but unintelligible, but still they sang on.

* * *

Achingly bright daylight lanced into the shelter. It turned the insides of Kuei's eyelids crimson and snapped him out of the dazed half-trance he'd fallen into. He groaned at the headache that made its presence known and lifted his hand to shield his face. Shadows fell across the light as voices spoke from outside the shelter.

"—Looks like some kinda Spirit monster."

"Oh, as if _you'd_ know!"

"Shut it, the both of you. Show a little respect for our kinsmen."

"Sorry, Qamar."

"I'm just sayin', it isn't any animal _I've_ ever heard of—"

"I said shut it." The sudden realization that the storm had ended filtered through Kuei's muddled mind, and he dropped his hand and opened his eyes. Three Sandbenders stood at the open end of the shelter, bending down to peer in at the trio. He could see the hazy shapes of more people behind the newcomers. Bosco stirred, shook the sand off his wide head and rumbled curiously at the strangers, making them gasp and scuttle backwards. Zafirah stumbled into his peripheral vision, staring up at the strangers.

"We're alive," she mumbled weakly. The shortest of the three hurried back to the shelter's entrance.

"Zafi?" she asked incredulously. "That really you?" She was pushed aside by one of the others, who scrambled into the shelter and knelt by Zafirah's side.

"Zafi?" he echoed, sounding horrorstruck. "Son of a hogmonkey, woman! What're you doing out in a sandstorm?"

"Nice to see you too, Shai," croaked Zafirah. The newcomers ducked beneath the glider and brought the three travelers out into the glare of the afternoon sun. A cloudless blue sky stretched overhead, with no trace of the sandstorm to be found. Kuei got an unpleasant shock when he looked back at their glider—the wooden craft was all but swallowed up by a small sand dune. Had the storm lasted any longer, or their rescuers found them any later, they might have been buried alive.

As if acting on an unspoken signal, all of the Sandbenders unmasked and faced each other. Kuei followed their lead, pulling down his face coverings and hastily replacing the goggles with his eyeglasses. Row upon row of copper-brown faces sprang into focus, peering curiously at their trio.

"Who are they?" he whispered to Zafirah. She spread her arms in a gesture that encompassed the crowd before them.

"They're the Aqila Tribe."

* * *

**That line about Kuei not being good at joke-telling: If you've seen Firefly, remember that scene where Simon tries to tell a funny story about being a doctor (because sick people are hi-larious!) and just fails miserably? That's what I was thinking of when I wrote that line. :3**

**Playlist time! Missing Youtube links are being updated.  
**

**1) "Cross the Hot Sand and Wilderness, Great Gurren Brigade (Nesshya no Arano wo Nukete Dai Gurren Dan ga Ikuno Da)" [**_**Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann**_**]—The trio begin their desert voyage.**

**2) "Theme From Spire" [**_**Myst IV: Revelation**_**]—The winds from the southwest are picking up and a storm's brewing…**

**3) "Sandstorm" [**_**Hidalgo**_**]—Saaaaannndstoooorrmmm! You can watch the sandstorm scene from **_**Hidalgo**_** at the second link, to get an idea of what I had in mind while writing this part of the chapter.**

**Music:  
**

**Video Clip: http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v =Pu83cczHURw**


	6. Chapter 4

**I had to do a lot of guesswork in this chapter. There's almost no canonical info on Sandbender culture, so I engaged in the time-honored fandom tradition of Make Something Up. I tried to keep it as plausible as I could. **

**Also, I've gone back and edited in all the missing scene/POV transition markers. I've also gone back to Chapter One and edited the siblings' tribal affiliation, to fix a small canonical error I'd made. They're no longer Hammi Tribesmen. I've decided to call their tribe the Janan Tribe. For the record, I'm also assuming for the purposes of this fic that Ghashiun, his father, and the other Sandbenders present in "The Desert" are also Janan Tribesmen. Their tribe's name is never mentioned, but the dialogue of "Appa's Lost Days" makes it clear that they aren't Hammi Tribe, as I had previously assumed. Therefore, in order for the siblings to have witnessed Aang's rage-fest at Si Wong Rock, like I said they did in Chapter 1, they can't be Hammi Tribe either. Buuut enough with the boring details, and on with the fanfic!**

**Big thanks to quantumreality and Kitty East for betaing and to my reviewers. **

**

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**CHAPTER FOUR—AQILA**

A slender woman with hawk-like features stepped forward. She looked to be in her forties or fifties, perhaps, and moved with an unmistakable air of authority. The woman lifted her hands to the disheveled trio and started to speak in a high, soft voice.

"We welcome Zafirah and Basam of our sister tribe," she proclaimed. Kuei recognized the smooth intonations of ritual speech. He'd heard it often enough in the Royal Court. Now it was the twins' turn: they both moved forward and lifted their hands in return.

"We thank you, Qamar of our sister tribe," said Basam. "We bring news from the Misty Palms Oasis."

"Two nights ago, the Fire Nation attacked the oasis. All were taken prisoner, except us. We carry this message: the desert has fallen," Zafirah said flatly. A shocked murmur raced through the crowd, but they fell silent at a gesture from Qamar. Kuei's forehead creased in a frown at the deadened tone of Zafirah's voice. _Is she all right…?_ Qamar drew in a sharp breath and nodded stiffly.

"I understand," she said quietly. Then her attention turned to Kuei. "And who is the outsider you've brought here?" she asked, wariness etched into her weathered face. Zafirah had an answer ready for her.

"This is Kuei of Ba Sing Se. He has proven himself trustworthy. He fought bravely alongside us against the Fire Nation." Here she hesitated, and Kuei saw her eyes dart sideways towards him. "I owe him my life." This got another reaction from the crowd. They weren't the only ones surprised—did she really see herself as being indebted to him? That certainly hadn't been his intention!

Qamar nodded, satisfied with this explanation. "Very well. We welcome you, Kuei of Ba Sing Se, ally of the Janan Tribe."

"I thank you, Qamar of the Aqila Tribe," Kuei replied, bowing deeply. If there was one thing Kuei understood, it was courtly rituals. The rites were done and the rest of the tribe surged forward, chattering excitedly, to greet their kinsmen. The young man named Shai was at Zafirah's side in an instant, gently lifting her chin with one hand and peering at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," was Zafirah's half-hearted answer.

"You sure?"

"Just a little shaken up. I'm fine." She gave him a thin-lipped smile and lifted one of her hands to grasp his, squeezing softly. _You don't seem fine_, Kuei thought. He didn't have time to ponder it, though, because he abruptly found himself surrounded. A group of the Sandbenders sidled up to him, as if he were a wild animal to be approached with the utmost caution.

"Did Ba Sing Se really fall to the Fire Nation?" one of them asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Kuei confirmed. Another Sandbender appeared beside him then, seemingly materializing out of thin air. She was fairly short, the top of her head barely reaching Kuei's shoulder, with a round face and shining brown eyes.

"That must've been awful," she said softly. "I can't even imagine—"

"What about the Avatar?" another one interjected. "I heard he died there."

"I-I'm sorry, I wouldn't know anything about that," he said, forcing the lie past the guilt that suddenly constricted his lungs. The Sandbenders exchanged worried looks and whispered to each other. The girl scowled at them and crossed her arms.

"Quit crowding the guy, c'mon. He probably doesn't want to talk about that stuff," she chided them. She turned to Kuei and tugged at his sleeve. "Let's go help your friends scavenge stuff from your glider." Sure enough, the siblings and several of the Aqila Sandbenders had surrounded the buried glider and were carefully excavating it, removing supplies as they uncovered them. Shai shouted a warning as the glider groaned and settled beneath the sand. The workers halted and stepped back. Finally, the overburdened wood caved, collapsing in on itself.

Shai whistled quietly. "You three are damn lucky we found you so soon."

"We certainly are," Kuei murmured. There were many ways to die in the Si Wong, none of them pleasant, but being buried alive sounded like a particularly nasty way to go. The short woman patted his arm sympathetically.

"Don't worry, nobody navigates the desert like the Aqila Tribe," she said confidently. "Oh, and I'm Amaris."

"It's, um, nice to meet you," Kuei replied. He bowed slightly, earning a small giggle from Amaris. "I'm—well, I suppose you already know," he added, remembering Zafirah's introduction.

"I sure do. You're the brave hero who saved our Zafi from getting scorched." She smiled sweetly at him, then took a Bending stance and set to work with a flourish of her arms. Kuei felt his cheeks heat up and hurriedly knelt down to start scooping the sand away by hand. He heard Zafirah snort off to his left; when he looked up at her, she glanced back down at her work while fighting a knowing smirk off of her face. Bosco, curious about the humans' actions, came over and pawed at the sand. "That's a funny-looking pet you got there," Amaris commented, chuckling at the animal's industrious digging.

"He's a bear. His name's Bosco," Kuei told her.

"Just 'bear', huh? Not 'platypus-bear', or…?"

"No, just a bear."

"Wow, that's weird. Do lots of people have bears in Ba Sing Se?"

Kuei couldn't help but smile at the mental image of bears running amok in the capitol city. "No, I don't think so."

"Y'know, we don't get many Ba Sing Se folks way out here. Not much reason for them to visit the open desert, I guess," she continued, rambling away as they worked side-by-side.

"Amaris, are you bugging the tourist?" Zafirah teased airily as she passed by with a stack of recovered crates.

"No!" the young woman said swiftly, then she shot an anxious look at Kuei. "I'm not, right?"

"Not at all," he assured her. Zafirah shook her head and smirked again, although there was something strained about the expression. She retook her position among the workers, and her entire face darkened as she looked upon the buried glider. He looked around the circle to find her brother, and saw Basam stationed close by. He was Bending sand away very slowly, with a contemplative frown on his face.

The work went slowly, the group carefully digging around the jagged, broken planks sticking out of the wreckage. When they were finally finished, they loaded the last of the salvaged goods onto the tribes' gliders and sailed off for the Aqila camp.

The sun sank in the west as they traveled, and the stiflingly heavy afternoon heat that beat down upon them like a furnace began to fade as a cool breeze kicked up. Finally, as the sun settled below the horizon, they crested a final sand dune and slowed to a halt, giving Kuei time to take in the sight of the settlement nestled in the dune's shadow.

The sheer size of the tribe astonished Kuei. No one outside of the Si Wong knew exactly how many Sandbenders lived there; finding researchers from the University to conduct a formal census was challenging at best, and actually carrying out a census was next to impossible. But none of the estimates he'd seen came close to accounting for the population of the Aqila Tribe.

"So, what d'you think?" Basam asked from beside him.

"It's… unbelievable. I had no idea that any of the Sandbender tribes were this large," Kuei said quietly.

"Frightening, isn't it?" the other man joked wryly.

Kuei felt himself smiling widely. "It's fantastic."

He counted forty dwellings, comprised of the same type of glider-tent that he and the siblings had set up during their voyage. These gliders were larger, though, clearly meant for families. Their inhabitants emerged from the shade of their homes as the foraging party—the group that had found the buried glider—filed into the camp. Children abandoned their games and raced to their parents with squeals of joy, friends and family embraced and greeted one another. Jovial voices filled the air.

The newcomers soon found themselves the center of attention again. Bosco reveled in it, contentedly licking the faces of the children who jostled forward to get a better look at the unfamiliar animal. Their parents were less enthused, ushering the young ones away from the bear while stealing guarded glances at Kuei.

The exiled Earth King felt another pang of guilt as he looked around at this thriving town of desert nomads. _I had no idea… There is so much I don't know…_

* * *

Zafirah sat at the edge of the camp, watching the stars appear in the rapidly darkening sky. Qamar had recruited the three travelers to help with the tribe's communal dinner, but she'd soon told the younger woman to take a walk. Zafirah was distracted, her thoughts all over the place, and she'd nearly burned her fingers—twice. So she'd been sent off to sort her mind out, safely away from cooking fires.

Hesitant footsteps crunching on the sand behind her dragged her thoughts out of their wandering. "May I… sit with you?" asked Kuei.

"Yeah, sure, knock yourself out," she muttered. The outsider sank down next to her and folded his hands in his lap, following her line of sight out over the dunes. Neither of them spoke for a minute or two, and then Kuei drew a breath like he was trying to force some words out, but he didn't. "What?"

"Hmm?"

"You were gonna say somethin', right?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a stray thought. Foolish, really."

Zafirah shot a sidelong look at him. _You certainly are a strange one._ "So? Say it anyway," she told him with a shrug.

"I was just thinking… the desert is quite pretty at this time of day."

"Yeah, it's real pretty when it's not trying to kill you."

"Fair point," he agreed with a faint smile. He turned back to the view in front of them, but she could sense his eyes flickering back towards her.

"What?" she repeated, folding her arms across her chest. He waved one hand vaguely, like he couldn't find the right phrase and hoped to grab it out of the air.

"Well, um, I hope I'm not being too forward in mentioning this, but you and your brother seem, er… I suppose 'withdrawn' would be a good word for it," he said carefully. She sat up from the slouched position she'd been in and paid her full attention to him. First he'd saved her life, and now… Kuei had just broken another rule.

"You're _worried _about us," she declared, arching her eyebrows at him. She felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, despite her glum mood. _Of all the tourists in the world, I just happen to get the weirdest one of the bunch,_ she thought dryly. He took her response in exactly the wrong way and winced.

"Sorry, that was presumptuous—I-it's none of my business—" he stuttered. She held up a hand to stop him before he could embarrass himself any more.

"Shut it. Quit apologizing." She took a shaky breath and glanced down at her feet. "Our parents died in a sandstorm four years back. We nearly met the same end they did, just now."

"Oh," he murmured. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was just a shock, is all. We'll be fine." And this time, she realized, she meant it. "We'll all be fine," she added softly. "See, that's the thing about the desert—it might kill you tomorrow, so you find something that's worth living for today, something to be happy about. If you don't, you end up a few feathers short of a buzzard-wasp," she joked, twirling her fingertip next to her temple.

The tourist smiled faintly, then spoke again after a few more minutes of silence. "I know what it's like to lose a parent. My father passed away when I was a child," he said. Zafirah whistled in sympathy.

"What about the rest of your family? If you don't mind me asking."

"My mother is gone as well." Something flashed in his deep green eyes and she suspected there was more to the story, but she didn't feel like prying. Well, not _that_ much, anyway.

"There had to have been somebody else, though, right?" she insisted. "Wife? Girlfriend?"

"No," he answered, sounding almost wistful.

"Boyfriend?" she tried. "It's okay, you can admit it. There's nothin' wrong with that, y'know—"

"N-no, no, it's nothing like that," he insisted quickly, face turning bright red. "The thing is, my life in Ba Sing Se didn't really leave me many opportunities to meet young ladies."

"Ah, gotcha." _So he's a student, probably the son of some nobleman, and can't talk to girls. Heh. There's three pieces of the riddle._ "So it was just you and Bosco, then?" Before Kuei could answer, Basam bounded up and dropped into a crouch behind them.

"Hey, dinner's ready! Quit your chitchat and get some food before we eat it all," he announced brightly. He Bent a swirl of sand that hoisted him to his feet and dashed off again. Zafirah chuckled and lightly jabbed Kuei in the arm with her knuckles.

"C'mon, tourist. I think we've done enough whining for one night," she teased.

* * *

They returned to the center of the Aqila camp to find the tribe congregated around the cooking fire, lined up with metal bowls in their hands. Amaris was waiting for them at the end of the line. She handed each of them a bowl, winking prettily at Kuei as she did so and making him blush for the third time that day. He heard Zafirah snicker beside him, but the moment he turned to look at her, she'd schooled her face into the very picture of innocence.

The communal meal that night was very much like the stew Zafirah had made on his first night in the desert—which, as it turned out, was very much like the same thing she and her brother ate nearly every day.

He sat down between the siblings and looked down at the meager portions in their bowls, and Kuei felt another surge of that ever-present guilt. Zafirah cleared her throat, drawing his attention.

"Okay, now it's _my_ turn to ask _you_ what's up," she said, arching her eyebrows at him again.

"'What's up'?" he echoed uneasily. She nodded vigorously, leveling a stern finger at him.

"I see that look. What's the problem?" she prompted. He hesitated, finding it difficult to keep his thoughts organized under the piercing gaze of her brown eyes.

"Well… you've all been so kind to me, even though you have so little… and I have no way of repaying that generosity," he said quietly. _And I'm not even certain that I deserve it,_ he added silently. Zafirah cocked her head at him, and then the same mystified smile he'd first seen back in the oasis crept over her features.

"Kuei, you know what they call it when somebody freely gives you something? It's called a gift. You don't have to repay a gift, so quit worryin' about it. I helped you out 'cause I felt like it," she told him frankly. "Besides, we don't have much, but it's not like we're suffering." She gestured with her bowl, and he followed the movement of her arm over the Sandbenders crowded nearby. "It's like I just told you—we find something to be happy about. The Fire Nation could be coming after us this very minute, but right now? We're all here together, we have good food, and we'll be damned if we're gonna let some ash-brained Firebenders or a sandstorm ruin that."

Her eyes shone as if daring him to disagree. He just smiled, feeling the warmth and the vibrancy of the community all around him.

"All right, but I can still try to repay you," he decided, taking a mouthful of stew.

"Y'mean besides saving my sister's life and helping us find the Aqila?" Basam asked off-handedly. Once again, Kuei didn't have time to reply; Qamar stood and whistled loudly, clapping her hands to get the tribe's attention. Once she had it, she turned to the siblings.

"Zafirah, Basam—I want you to tell us everything you can remember about the Fire Nation raid at the oasis," she said calmly. The twins looked at each other with sudden unease.

"There's not much to tell," Basam began, speaking slowly and carefully. "They attacked us in the middle of the night—"

"—They caught us off-guard," Zafirah interjected, her voice harsh.

"We were outnumbered pretty bad, and they had these flying things…"

"Big red machines, floating in the air over the oasis."

"It was all over by sunrise," Zafirah finished. Kuei saw in her expression the same listlessness that he'd observed earlier that day. "They said 'The desert has fallen'. I'm sure they'll be back to round up the rest of us soon, and with even more troops." Qamar nodded, frowning as she contemplated this information.

"And tell me, how did you three escape?" she asked. Zafirah stiffened and stared at the ground.

"We hid," she grumbled. "I got scared. I ran and hid, and I dragged these two with me." She jerked her thumbs at the two men beside her. Qamar's eyes softened, seeing the younger woman's shame, and she walked over to place her hand on Zafirah's shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself, girl. In protecting yourselves, you survived to bring us this information. By running and hiding, girl, you may have saved us." Zafirah looked up at the Aqila Tribe's leader through eyes that glistened with unshed tears, confusion plain on her face. Qamar smiled boldly and moved away to stride amongst her people, looking at each of their faces as she passed them. "I've been mulling this plan over in my head ever since you first delivered this news to us, when we dug you out of that wreck. These things you've told me have only convinced me more—we must take a stand against the Fire Nation!"

Kuei inhaled sharply and felt a chill run up his spine. No one in the crowd spoke, or even moved a muscle.

Qamar waited for a second, and then went on. "Tomorrow at first light, we'll send scouts to rally the other tribes. With all of the tribes gathered around us- with the full strength of the desert on our side- the Fire Nation won't find us to be such a weak target, after all." She paused as a wild light filled her dark brown eyes. "Let them come with their flying things. A Sandbender in the open desert is as powerful as a Waterbender on the high seas. We're no easy prey!" The Aqila Tribe roared their approval.

"They'll never catch us off-guard again!" Zafirah exclaimed, thrusting her fist high above her had. The shame in her expression gave way to burning pride, her mood seemingly buoyed by the spark of fierce elation that seemed to ignite the very air. The tribe cheered, their upraised fists joining hers.

Kuei stared about himself, feeling oddly as though he'd missed a step on a flight of stairs. _I think I just landed myself in the middle of a battlefield, _he thought dazedly. _Oh Spirits… they're going to war against the Fire Nation! _He choked down the panic that writhed in his stomach like a live eelfish. Surely this was a fight doomed to failure?

Then again… the Sandbenders would go into this fight with both eyes open. They wouldn't be blinded, as he himself had been. Perhaps these Sandbenders could succeed where the Earth King and his armies had failed. Maybe, just maybe, they could drive the Fire Nation out of their home. Somewhere, deep in his chest, a glimmer of hope came alive.

The rest of the meal passed by in a haze of excited chatter, and then he and the siblings were enlisted to help with cleaning up. As they were scrubbing the last of the dishes, a rowdy cheer from the center of camp echoed through the warm, humid night. Zafirah nudged Kuei with her elbow and pointed. Most of the tribe had formed a loose ring around two young men circling each other. He recognized one of them as Shai.

"A fight?" Kuei wondered.

"Nope, a sparring match!" Zafirah replied happily.

"This is basically what we do for fun out here," Basam said at Kuei's puzzled expression. "Sparring teaches us new Sandbending forms, keeps us in shape, that kind of thing. And, y'know, with the Fire Nation out to get us…" He grinned as he let the sentence trail off.

"Yep. You city people are spoiled, with your fancy Bending schools," Zafirah added lightly. "A few rounds in a good sparring circle and you'll learn everything you ever need to know."

Kuei, caught up in the Aqila Tribe's infectiously high spirits, decided to be bold. "I'm sure Basam and I could finish cleaning that, if you'd like to go and cheer for your boyfriend," he suggested jokingly, gesturing with the scrubbing cloth he held to the massive cauldron she was Sandbending into. She stared at him as though he'd suddenly started Waterbending.

"Boyfriend?" she repeated. "Who, Shai? He's not my boyfriend."

_Well, so much for bold joke-telling_, Kuei thought sheepishly. "S-sorry. I saw the two of you together earlier, and I thought, um…"

"Nah, it's okay. He used to be." She smiled fondly as she looked over at the impromptu sparring ring.

The dish-scrubbers finished their chores and migrated over to watch the match just as Shai's opponent hit the ground and skidded out of the ring. A deafening roar went up from the onlookers as the victor walked to his defeated opponent and stretched his hand down, laughing easily. The other man snorted, but then he too was chuckling. Shai helped him to his feet and they bowed to one another.

Shai noticed the three of them standing at the edge of the ring and beamed proudly at Zafirah, fists on his hips. She rolled her eyes and waved. The young man puffed up like a peacock-duck, completely oblivious to the tall, wiry girl who charged into the ring with her fists drawn back. He was oblivious no more as a pillar of sand found its mark squarely between his shoulder blades, and the fight was on!

The girl swiftly sent Shai and her next two opponents flying, but then she, too, met with defeat. Match after match went by, and soon Qamar stood in the ring, seeking out a worthy foe. She pointed straight at Zafirah.

"Come on, Janan girl. Let's see what you've been learning!" the older woman goaded. Zafirah scoffed and hopped upright, striding into the ring with an irrepressible grin stretched across her face.

The two women circled each other along the edges of the space, eyes locked on one another. Quick as lightning, Zafirah feinted left and surged forward, suddenly twisting and sliding to a halt with her right foot outthrust, sending a crest of sand racing towards Qamar. The Aqila woman spun, arms tucked up against her torso, dropped into a half-crouch—and thrust her arms out and down, cutting the crest in half to fall uselessly on either side of her. She spun again, dropping further and slamming her fists into the ground. A pillar of sand erupted from the spot where Zafirah had stood mere seconds ago, coming close enough to graze her side as she leaped out of its path.

Kuei realized that he was leaning forward, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched with bated breath while the fight went on and on.

Zafirah and Qamar sprang towards each other, and Zafirah shot sideways, swinging her arms up as she jumped into the air. She landed and lunged at her foe, slicing her fingertips through the sand. A trench opened beneath Qamar's feet, and the crowd gasped as she nearly went down. Then the older woman regained her footing and sent the trench hurtling right back, but her opponent dodged almost effortlessly.

Zafirah pressed her attack forward, throwing her arms wide and bringing her palms together with a resounding smack. Sand rushed up to surround Qamar, blocking her from view for several nerve-wracking seconds. Then the sand exploded outward, making the onlookers duck as it flew past their heads.

The two women were close to arm's reach from each other now. Qamar raised a wave of sand that swept beneath Zafirah's feet, bringing the younger woman to her knees. But then she was up again, charging ahead. She leaped high above Qamar's second attack and rolled as she struck the ground, thrusting her fingers deep into the sand as she righted herself. She brought her arms up sharply, lifted them above her head, then flung them down and punched her fists outwards. A massive coil of sand sprang to life out of the ground, swirling around Qamar like a cobra-viper. Undaunted, she stomped her left foot against the ground and swung her arms in a circle, bringing down the sand-cobra. As Zafirah came to her feet, Qamar spun once more and swiped her left hand out as she lunged sideways. The ground itself reared up beneath the younger woman's feet, putting her even further off-balance and Zafirah toppled backwards.

Zafirah hit the sand and her opponent crouched above her, one hand at her throat. The crowd held its breath for a long, tense moment, and then another wide grin split Zafirah's face. Qamar smiled back, her bell-like laugh drifting out from the ring. She stood and offered a hand to her defeated friend, pulling her upright.

"Not bad, girl," Qamar declared. The women bowed to each other, to the raucous cheers of the audience. Zafirah jogged back and slumped to the ground at Kuei's feet while Qamar sought out a fresh challenger.

"Haha, whew, that was bracing!" she panted cheerfully. He looked curiously at her as he sat down beside her; standing above her just seemed far too rude.

"I would have thought you'd be upset at losing," he mused. She paused, considering, then shrugged carelessly.

"Sure, winning would've been nice. But hey, that was the most fun I've had in weeks," she said with a contented sigh.

"Something to be happy about?" he suggested, echoing her words from earlier.

"Exactly," she agreed, waggling a slender finger at him and still beaming from ear to ear. This smile was a far cry from the smirks and sardonic grins he'd seen from her thus far. It lit up her whole face, making her warm brown eyes blaze. He smiled back as his breath caught in his chest.

* * *

**Oh dear, something's happening there at the end, huh? :D Also, I've given up on using my own section-breaks. FFN just tried to eat the row of backslashes I've been using. Fine, FFN, you win! I'll use your fancy line-break button in the document editor. X/  
**

**Playlist! Missing Youtube links are being updated.  
**

**1) "The Reprimand" [**_**The Prince of Egypt**_**]: Meeting the Aqila Tribe.**

**http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= ML20vIXYVSU**

**2) "Through Heaven's Eyes" [**_**The Prince of Egypt**_**]: Chapter Four theme.**

**3) "****Rap is a Man's Soul! The Man Who Believes in Himself and Surges at Heaven! Open Your Ears Wide and Listen to the Great Kamina's Theme! (a.k.a. "Row Row Fight The Power")" [**_**Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann**_**]: Qamar announces her plan to lead the Sandbender tribes into battle against the Fire Nation.**

**4) "This Is Berk" [**_**How To Train Your Dragon**_**]: Zafirah's sparring match.**


	7. Chapter 5

**Wow, I can't believe we're up to Chapter 5! I feel good about the way things are progressing in this chapter. Extra big thanks to my beta quantumreality, for putting up with my rampant indecisiveness on Yahoo! Messenger, and to Avatar of Wurms, the one person who reviewed Chapter 4. **

**I have a surprise for you guys! Remember that pencil sketch of Zafirah and Basam that I posted way back in Chapter 1? Well, here it is in color! **

**http:/ / skeleton-horse. deviantart. com/ gallery/ 24281150#/ d2u1b6g**

**

* * *

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**CHAPTER FIVE—LESSONS**

When Kuei awoke the next morning, he found himself alone in the borrowed glider-tent that he and his companions had shared the night before. He could hear the sounds of activity outside the tent—voices talking, cooking pots clanging together. A few rays of early morning sunlight streamed in through a gap in the tent cover, bathing his face in the already-sweltering heat of the day.

He stood and shook the sand out of his clothing as best he could. As he did, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at the way his borrowed shirt hung off of his thin frame. Basam had much wider shoulders than he did, apparently, not to mention a more muscular build. He finally gave up the sand-removal as a hopeless endeavor. A couple minutes later, he ducked out of the tent with a fresh coating of salve on his black eye.

Bosco greeted him with a happy growl and a wet nose shoved against his hand. He smiled and scratched behind the bear's ears.

"Good morning, Bosco," he said. "Let's go and see if we can get some breakfast, shall we?"

"The furball's already eaten." Kuei just barely managed not to jump as Zafirah's voice rang out from his left. She flashed that bright grin of hers and waved easily at him. "He woke up when we did and kept bugging me until I fed him. And speaking of food…" She produced a bowl from behind her back and handed it to him. It was filled with an assortment of dried meat and fruits.

"Thank you," he said, taking the bowl as his stomach rumbled.

"No problem. You'd have gone hungry if I hadn't snagged some food for you, sleeping in like that," she replied, looking almost apologetic.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked, feeling inexcusably lazy. She shrugged and idly brushed some sand from his right shoulder. He glanced sideways at her copper-skinned fingers, bewildered once again by this peculiar habit of hers.

"We were up before dawn to get the scouts ready to leave. I figured you didn't need to be awake for that." She looked down at her feet, as if suddenly nervous. A lock of brown hair slipped out from beneath her head coverings and swept across her cheek at the movement of her head. "And, uh, one other thing… I know we had a deal that we'd get you out of here once we'd found another tribe, but uh…"

"Sorry?" He frowned, confused. "I don't follow."

"Our deal, remember? You help us find another tribe to pass along our message, then we give you a ride to the edge of the desert so you can move on?"

"Oh, yes, of course." He'd honestly forgotten all about it.

Zafirah nodded, eyes still fixed on the ground. "Yeah, you see… with the scouts gone, we can't spare another glider to go to the edge of the desert right now, not with a Fire Nation raid hangin' over our heads. We need all the rest of our people here, at the camp. So, uh, you're kind of… stuck here. Qamar and the others, well, they're not really sure what to do with you." She bit her lower lip, brows drawn inward in a deep frown.

All he could do was stare at her while apprehension overtook him. Memories rose up unbidden—less than flattering stories about the ruthless Sandbender tribes of the desert, told to him by his history tutors. He hadn't paid them much mind until now. The kindness of Zafirah and her brother had quickly eased his mind after the incident in the cantina.

_They're not really sure what to do with you._ He didn't like the sound of that at all. It must have shown on his face, because Zafirah scowled at him and snorted.

"Oh, cut it out, it's not like they're gonna slit your throat!" she insisted. "You _will_ have to stay for the battle, though. I'm really sorry." She fell silent for a few moments, gazing down at her bare toes wiggling against the sand. He opened his mouth to respond just as she started up again. "I tried to tell 'em it wasn't fair makin' you stay, I really did! This isn't your fight—"

"Isn't it, though?" Her eyes jerked up to his own at his abrupt interjection. _Oh, it most certainly _is_ my fight—in more ways than you know._ He managed a faint smile at the sudden realization unfolding before him. "That is, well, as a citizen of the Earth Kingdom… I think I made it my fight when I accosted a Fire Nation soldier," he pointed out. She didn't look convinced. He took a deep breath, knowing it was time for a little more honesty. "The truth is… there were people relying on me in Ba Sing Se, people I was responsible for. I let them down when I fled. If there's anything I can do to make a difference in this fight—if I can keep even one more person from suffering at the hands of the Fire Nation—then perhaps I can begin to redeem myself."

Zafirah gaped at him, thunderstruck. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly, and then she seemed to recover herself.

"Uh, okay. Well then, I guess you'd better come along with me. Qamar's about to hand out orders to everybody." She turned and beckoned for him to follow.

Together they made their way to the center of camp, where the Aqila tribe sat before their leader. They wound their way through the crowd and took a seat with Basam, Shai, and Amaris. The latter immediately scooted closer to Kuei and flashed him a wide smile.

"Morning! Sleep well?" she whispered.

"Quite well, thanks. And you?" he whispered back. Zafirah shushed them before Amaris could answer, glaring at them. Beside her, Basam tilted his head meaningfully towards Qamar. He noticed several of their neighbors shooting him decidedly frosty looks as well. Ducking his head, he mouthed an apology and turned his attention to the matter at hand.

Qamar began, wasting no time with pleasantries. "We don't know when the Fire Nation will arrive, so we have to be ready at all times. There will be sentries walking a perimeter around the camp—everyone will take a turn on watch duty. When you're not on watch, you will be training for the fight. You, outsider!" Kuei sat up straighter, eyes turned to the older woman.

"Yes, Qamar?"

"How much combat training do you have?" she asked. Kuei forced himself not to hunch down, all too aware of the dozens of pairs of expectant brown eyes suddenly watching him.

"I don't have much," he admitted. By which he meant 'none whatsoever'. Qamar nodded, narrowing her eyes at him.

"And are you an Earthbender?"

"No, I'm not."

"Very well. Shai, you'll be in charge of the outsider's hand-to-hand combat training. Zafirah, you'll be teaching him whatever weapon you find appropriate," she declared. The two bowed their heads in acknowledgment of their orders. Zafirah leaned over and poked Kuei in the elbow.

"Looks like you'll get some use out of that Water Tribe club after all," she remarked.

"Indeed," he muttered as apprehension welled up within him.

* * *

A couple hours later, Zafirah stood shoulder-to-shoulder with fifteen Aqila Tribespeople in one of the training tents that they had set up. Sweat soaked her clothes as she and the others followed a stout older man named Khoury through the stances of their kata. The tent shaded them from the sun while they worked, but it still wasn't safe to shed a layer of clothing, or even take off her arm and leg wraps. Living in the Si Wong meant being ready for anything, and it wasn't smart to leave too much skin showing for too long between the blazing sun and the rough sand. Luckily, she was used to wearing all those layers in the desert's heat.

Kuei wasn't. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, sitting off to the side of the tent (waiting his turn for the sparring ring) and fidgeting with his arm wraps.

Her thoughts drifted as she flowed through the stances. The battle looming in their future took up most of them, like the cold winds that blew from the north in the winter. But again and again, they came back to one thing: namely, the scrawny tourist who just got more and more confusing every time he opened his mouth. His little speech that morning had been… unexpected, and _that_ was an amusing understatement.

He'd meant every word of it, she knew. There was no questioning the sudden determination in his voice when he'd talked of redeeming himself—his bright green eyes had practically glowed with it. She'd sensed a kind of quiet strength coming off of him, sneaking out from behind the shy awkwardness that clung to him like a second shadow.

She'd seen it from him once before—back at the oasis, after the battle, when he'd offered to help her and Basam bury their dead.

Not for the first time, she wondered what exactly had happened to him in Ba Sing Se.

Khoury started in on a more complicated kata and Kuei slipped out of her mind for the moment. She focused on the flow of energy through her body as she followed the older man's movements. She focused on the sand shifting beneath her feet—the rough grit under her bare toes and heels, and the more distant scratch of the sand under the wrapped middles of her feet. She focused on the hot, dry air inside the tent, sticking to her and surrounding her, streaming through her.

She focused on the feel of the desert, within her and all around her.

* * *

Kuei hit the ground hard, the breath whooshing out of his lungs.

"C'mon, outsider, keep your guard up!" Shai taunted. The exiled Earth King groaned and hauled himself to his feet, retaking the fighting stance the other man had shown him. The Sandbender smirked broadly. He'd been drilling Kuei on the basics of hand-to-hand combat for the past two hours with little success. "You're gonna have to be faster than that if you want to win against a Firebender," snapped Shai.

The image of a red armored fist and a skull-like faceplate burned in Kuei's memories.

"Go, Kuei! Knock 'im on his backside!" cheered Basam from the sidelines. Shai charged and Kuei just barely managed to dodge, earning an approving grunt from his tutor.

"Finally, a little improvement!" Shai jeered.

Then he feinted and drove his heavily-wrapped fist into Kuei's stomach, knocking him backwards. He staggered but kept his footing, getting himself a grin and a nod from Shai. He brought his arm up and blocked the Sandbender's next punch, but missed the one after that and took a blow to the jaw for it.

_This is going to be a long day,_ Kuei thought.

* * *

When Kuei came off of his first watch duty shift later that night, he found Zafirah already in the trio's shared glider tent. She sat on the thin blanket that served as her bed, combing out her hair. The flickering light of a single candle gave the long locks a coppery tint. He unrolled his own blanket and flopped down onto it with a heavy sigh, exhausted and sore from head to toe from the day's training.

"Rough day?" the Sandbender woman joked. The only answer he could muster was another sigh, which could have been roughly translated as 'I have to make up for twenty-five years' worth of a lack of martial arts lessons'. "Don't worry, it'll get easier. The first day of training is always the toughest," she assured him.

"I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll be rather useless in the upcoming battle," he muttered. Her smile took on a strained quality at the mention of the battle and she shook her head jerkily.

"You won't be useless!" Zafirah protested. "I was watching you today, and you're a fast learner. You'll get it." _Oh, perfect, I had an audience while making a fool of myself. Wonderful._ He hoped the darkness in the tent would hide the redness rising in his cheeks at the thought.

"Thanks," he mumbled, knowing that she'd meant well in saying it. "Where's Basam?" he asked, hoping to gently steer the conversation away from himself.

"Catching up with a friend." Zafirah tilted her head slightly. "Of course, this friend is a _girl_, so we won't be seeing him again any time soon."

"Ah." He shut his eyes, listening to the faint, rhythmic rustle of the comb running through her long hair. Then he shifted to fiddle with his arm wraps again.

"You haven't taken those off since I put them on at the oasis, have you?" she asked.

"I wouldn't have known how to retie them," said Kuei, feeling quite sheepish.

"You could've asked for help," Zafirah pointed out. She held up a hand to stop him before he could reply. "No, no you don't. I _know_ you're going to say something silly like 'I didn't want to be an inconvenience', and I might have to smack you upside the head if that happens." His teeth clicked together faintly as he shut his mouth. She rolled her eyes and set her comb down. "Okay, you need to know how to do this if you're gonna be here for a while. So I'll wrap your right arm, and then you try to do your left."

Kuei sat upright as she crossed the tent and settled onto his blanket in front of him. With a stern look on her face, she took hold of his right arm and swiftly unraveled the bindings, then switched to the left. He heaved a sigh of relief as the warm night air hit his skin and Zafirah scoffed under her breath.

"You really should've said something sooner," she grumbled, giving him a minute to shake out the soreness in his muscles and enjoy his limbs' freedom from the cloth.

"Sorry," he said guiltily.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your poor arms!" Zafirah exclaimed. He looked down at his hands.

"Sorry," he repeated dryly. The corners of her mouth tugged upwards.

"So, what, you only have a sense of humor when you're dead tired?" she teased, her annoyance apparently fading. "Maybe I should tire you out more often." Her own hands flew to her mouth, her eyes widening. "Bleeding hogmonkeys. Uh, let's forget I said that, okay?" Kuei just shrugged slightly, mystified by her sudden embarrassment.

He squinted at her as something occurred to him. "What about your own arm bindings?" he inquired.

"I redid them this morning, before you woke up," she explained. "Okay, c'mon, right arm." He held the limb out to her and she grabbed his wrist with one hand, the bindings in the other one. "Now, watch carefully." She started wrapping at his knuckles, much more slowly than the first time she'd done this for him. Kuei felt an odd jolt in his stomach each time her rough fingertips made contact with his skin, but he dismissed it as a symptom of his weariness. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on following her strong, slender hands as they moved up his arm—but that just made the feeling worse.

Kuei cleared his throat, deciding to find something else to think about. "Zafirah, I have to ask something… the rest of the tribespeople don't want me here, do they?"

She turned her gaze up at him sharply. "What makes you say that?"

"It, well, it's the looks they've been giving me. Remember dinner this evening, when all those children gathered around me to ask questions about Ba Sing Se?"

"How could I forget?" Zafirah said, grinning. "'How many people live there? What's a train? Why do you have green eyes? Do lots of people there have green eyes?'" she continued, mimicking the high-pitched voice of a child. She finished his right arm and handed Kuei the binding for his left. He took it and began attempting to wind it around his hand.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that some of the adults sitting across from me were… _glaring_ at me—as though I might do something unspeakably horrible to their little ones!"

"I hate to say it, but you _are_ an outsider. Now, most people here probably don't care a whole lot. They're not exactly _happy_ you're here, but they're not gonna throw you to the buzzard-wasps or anything. But the thing you need to understand… your average Sandbender doesn't think much of foreigners. They don't like us, we don't like them. It's been that way as long as anyone can remember."

"Your brother doesn't seem to feel that way. _You_ don't, either," he pointed out. She smirked down at his hands.

"Depends on the outsider."

* * *

Zafirah lay wide awake, staring up at the sailcloth cover of the tent. It was a quiet night—there was no breeze, and the only sound in the tent was Kuei's slow, even breathing. Outside, Bosco shifted and grunted in his sleep. She wished she could fall asleep as easily as the big furball did.

Before her first kata that morning, a girl by the name of Hayat asked Zafirah if she was scared at all. She'd looked the girl dead in the eye and said, "Absolutely."

Scared didn't even cover half of it. Every time she shut her eyes, all she saw was the burned-out husk of the oasis. _We should be running, all of us,_ whispered a treasonous little voice deep in her head. _We can't win this fight_.

_No!_ The Sandbender squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could. _Training. Training's going well. Yeah. _

…_But is it going well enough? _She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyelids, like she could push the thoughts right out of her head. She had some practice at clearing her mind, thanks to regular Pai Sho lessons with Fung, the old man at the cantina. He insisted that a calm, collected mind was essential to a good Pai Sho strategy. She still hadn't gotten the hang of the mind-clearing or the game yet.

* * *

The next morning found Kuei seated by the cooking fire in the (admittedly quite pleasant) company of Amaris. The twins were off on watch duty, and Zafirah would be back in a couple of hours to begin his training with the Water Tribe war club. In the meantime, Amaris seemed more than happy to single-handedly make up for any coldness Kuei experienced from her fellow Sandbenders.

"How's that black eye doin'?" she asked.

"It's healing up nicely," Kuei said, touching it gingerly. That salve was remarkable stuff—the swelling was gone already, though the area was still tender to the touch. He looked around at the gliders as he ate, and a question popped into his mind.

"Say, Amaris, how long does it take to get all of these gliders on the move?" he asked, gesturing to them. She smiled brightly at him.

"That's a random question! Hmm, let's see… under half an hour, usually, if we're in a hurry. We figured that out once with a sundial and the magnetic compasses on the gliders."

"Really? That's fairly impressive, considering the size of this camp," Kuei commented. She blushed slightly and beamed with pride on her tribe's behalf.

"Yeah, well, we have it down to a routine," she replied with a shrug.

"I would imagine so," agreed Kuei. He smiled a little. "This is all so different from my life in Ba Sing Se. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live out here."

"You could always stay here a while and give it a try," Amaris suggested with a mischievous grin.

"I don't think your tribe would appreciate that very much," he admitted with a wry smile.

"Don't you pay them any mind," she told him firmly. And with that, she launched into an account of life in the desert, her eyes sparkling as she talked. She told him about traveling to the markets across the mountains once every other month to trade with farmers and merchants from outside the desert. She even told him about the young man she'd met along the way on her last trading expedition ("You remind me of him a lot, actually. You don't have a brother, do you?").

Zafirah and Basam returned, with the former looking quite hassled. "Hey, you two," she said absently. "Listen, Kuei, I can't start your training just yet. They need me for another round of watch duty. I'm just stoppin' by to grab some food." She grimaced apologetically and turned to her twin, who lifted his hands.

"Don't look at me, I got my own training to worry about," he said.

"You're gonna train with that Water Tribe club, right?" Amaris interjected suddenly.

"That's the one," agreed Zafirah.

"I'll do it, then," she said simply.

"You will?" asked three voices together. Amaris shrugged.

"Neither of us is what you'd call an expert with a Water Tribe weapon, right? So it's not like you know anything I don't," she said cheerily.

"She does have a good point," said Kuei, turning to Zafirah. She regarded the shorter woman, and for a moment she looked as though she might argue the matter. Then she shrugged.

"Sure, go for it. I gotta run." She waved distractedly at them and darted off into the crowd of Sandbenders rushing to and fro through the camp.

Basam glanced at Amaris, then placed a heavy hand on Kuei's shoulder. "Best of luck to you," he said, his solemn tone undermined by the barely suppressed mirth tugging at the corners of his mouth. Then he too was gone, leaving Kuei with Amaris.

He wasn't sure how he felt about the gleam in her eye.

* * *

Kuei was, once again, sprawled face-down in the sand. He rolled out of the way as Amaris's improvised club smacked the ground where his head had been, scrabbling frantically for his own weapon. His fingers finally grasped the leather-wrapped handle—he sprang to his feet and brandished the war club. Amaris paused in the middle of swinging her wooden staff.

"Hold it, hold it!" she exclaimed, then shook her head and bounced over to him. "Your stance is still wrong, Kuei. See? You're standing all crooked! Square up your hips." She reached out and prodded his right hip with the end of her club. "There we go. Now you won't fall over so much," she explained sweetly.

"Ngh." It was all the response he could manage. The heat today seemed even worse than the day before; it sapped at his strength, making his limbs heavy and sluggish. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, though it was really a wasted effort. There would just be more of it in a few minutes. _I have to stay focused,_ he told himself. _I have to keep going! Remember what you're fighting for… _

He thought of the Fire Nation, its soldiers undoubtedly on their way; he thought of the citizens of Ba Sing Se, suffering for his failure; he thought of the Janan Tribe, their fate unknown at present; and he thought of his newfound companions, good-natured Basam and vibrant Zafirah. Her quick smile and lively eyes flashed through his thoughts. He hefted the war club again, forcing his weary muscles into action. _I can't give up…_

* * *

Two weeks passed by. Life settled into a routine that was, if not comfortable, then at least reassuring in its regularity. At night, Kuei went on watch duty. During the day, he would spar with Shai in hand-to-hand combat, and with Amaris or Zafirah with the Water Tribe club. His training sessions never failed to draw a crowd of curious and often amused onlookers, but he found that it bothered him less with each day. The minute his feet hit the sparring ring, the rest of the world seemed to fade into the background.

This, Shai had told him, was actually a bad thing. Upon finding this out, the Sandbender had enlisted the help of several spectators in testing Kuei's response to distractions and "sneak attacks". He sometimes felt that these volunteers took a little too much delight in yelling at him and pelting balls of hardened sand at him, but he took it all in stride. He applied himself wholly to his sparring sessions, pushing himself further each time.

* * *

Zafirah joined the throng watching as Shai and Kuei circled each other in the sparring ring. She wound her way over to her brother, sitting next to Hayat.

"Where've you been?" Hayat asked.

"Oh, I got a new move I'm working on," Zafirah said smugly.

"Yeah?" Basam asked. She leaned over to whisper to both of them. Basam's forehead creased into a frown, and then he grinned broadly and barked out a laugh, slapping his palm against his knee. The younger girl giggled and clapped her hands.

"Oh, I hope I'm there to see the look on some poor Firebender's ugly mug when that happens!" Hayat crowed. She glanced back at the ring, then nudged Basam with her elbow. "Think the outsider'll win this time?"

Basam squinted at the two fighters. Shai charged in a spray of sand and aimed a kick at Kuei's chest, but the outsider blocked it and sent a kick of his own right back. It connected with a solid _thump_. Basam rubbed his chin absently. "Yup, he's got this one," he decided. Hayat raised her eyebrows at him.

"You seem awfully sure about that," she said. "_How_ much have you lost betting on this guy?"

"I'd have lost a lot more if I had any money to lose," Basam shot back, perfectly unconcerned. "But seriously—look at him! He's definitely got it this time," he insisted. Zafirah looked at Kuei.

His eyes were fixed on his opponent, steady and solemn. Shai came at him again and Kuei dodged, parried his second attack—then he took a bad step and stumbled back. Triumph flashed on Shai's face and disappeared again just as fast when Kuei kept his footing and lunged. They collided and grappled, neither one giving an inch of ground. Shai dropped his shoulder suddenly and threw Kuei. Zafirah winced as the outsider hit the dirt hard, sand flying up in a cloud around him.

And then he was up! He stood tall and defiant, fists raised. Shai's eyebrows shot up his forehead and he struck out, but Kuei matched him attack for attack.

Zafirah distantly heard Hayat take Basam up on a bet of one copper piece. Her twin was right, though—it was starting to look like the outsider might just win this one_. _That quiet intensity was back in Kuei's green eyes. _That's a good look for him. Especially with that little bit of stubble he's got going today…_

_Wait, _what_? Spirits and ancestors, girl, stop that! The Fire Nation'll be here any day now—this is _so_ not the time for those kinds of thoughts! _

Still, with that black eye gone, it was increasingly hard to ignore the fact that Kuei was _very_ handsome. Most outsiders that came to her oasis looked like old buzzard-wasps. Sitting there and watching him fight wasn't helping much, either. Outside the sparring ring, he was as awkward as a beetle flipped on its back, like he wasn't all that comfortable in his own skin. But the way Kuei moved in the sparring ring, especially now that he'd found some confidence... _Forget it. There's more important things to worry about now._

For instance, it was obvious that Kuei was getting tired, and Shai was driving him back step by step. If he got pushed out of the ring, he'd lose the match. The tension in the air was so thick Zafirah could almost see it.

"C'mon, Kuei…" she muttered, clenching her fists. The outsider charged one more time and Shai blocked his punch, dropped his shoulder, and Kuei went flying over his back again.

But this time, Kuei rolled with the motion, grabbing hold of Shai's arm—and flipped him right out of the ring! The Sandbender let out a strangled grunt as the back of his head smacked into the sand.

A shout went up from the sidelines and Zafirah was on her feet before she'd even realized she was moving. Kuei sat frozen on the sand, gaping at Shai while the Sandbender clambered upright.

"Did I… did I win the match?" Zafirah could barely hear Kuei over the roaring cheer that filled the air suddenly. A few onlookers swarmed into the ring to pull Kuei up off the ground and clap him soundly on the back. Zafirah elbowed her way past them, unable to contain her grin.

"I won," Kuei said vaguely as she reached him.

"Yes you did," she agreed. "And it was a damn good win, too!"

She lifted her right fist, knuckles pointed at him. He stared blankly at it. "Fist bump!" she explained, demonstrating with her other hand. Then the fog seemed to lift and a wide smile spread over Kuei's face. He lifted his own right fist and jabbed his knuckles against hers. Zafirah beamed back at him, smiling so wide that her cheeks ached.

* * *

Kuei was on his way back from his watch duty shift that night when he first learned about sand-surfing. His route took him along the base of the massive sand dune that sheltered the Aqila camp. Although he'd walked this path every night since that first war meeting with Qamar two weeks ago, it was the first time he'd nearly been run over by a child while doing so.

"Watch it!" A tan blur swooped off the slope of the sand dune and thundered past him mere inches from his feet. Kuei gasped and jumped backwards. The blur skidded to a stop, resolving itself into a wild-haired boy of about ten years old. "Watch where you're goin', dum-dum!" the boy blustered, shaking his fist at Kuei.

Looking around, the exiled King found himself surrounded by seven children and teenagers, all peering at him with varying levels of curiosity and that peculiar brand of contempt reserved only for particularly incompetent grown-ups. At the top of the dune he could just make out the shapes of six more. One of the teens stepped forward, squinting at him.

"Hey," she said slowly. "Ain't you the Ba Sing Se fella that beat Shai today?" All at once, the children seemed to decide that perhaps this adult wasn't quite so awful. They pressed in around him, chattering excitedly.

"Hardly nobody can beat Shai! He's the best!" one especially small girl squealed.

"Nuh uh, he's not that tough," another boy shouted back. The argument ended abruptly as another teen came zipping down the side of the dune, hollering and whooping. She was riding a board of what looked like hardened sand.

"What in the world are you all doing?" Kuei wondered.

"Sand surfing!" the children chorused.

Five minutes later, Kuei found himself standing atop the sand dune with the bottoms of his feet encased in a board of hardened sand. The Aqila camp lay far below him, with the moonlit desert stretching out to the horizon on all sides. It was a spectacular view.

It was also much higher than it appeared from the base of the dune. He'd just glanced over his shoulder to voice his rapidly growing concerns when two of the teens stomped their feet into the sand and thrust their fists out. The sand-board gave a little jump forward over the crest of the dune, and then Kuei was _flying_.

"Don't forget to bend yer knees!" one of them cried over Kuei's yell of shock.

_Oh Spirits, oh Spirits, I'm going to die!_ The wind was whipping past him, roaring in his ears, stinging his cheeks and making his eyes stream. His heart was in his throat, pounding furiously. It was petrifying. It was exhilarating. It was even _better_ than riding on Appa. Somewhere on the way down, his terrified yell turned into a shout of joy.

And then he hit a change in the angle of the slope and his sand-board snapped in half. He tumbled head-over-behind and rolled the last several yards to the bottom of the dune before finally coming to a stop. Kuei lay half-buried in sand, laughing hysterically with the world spinning around his head from dizziness. Three of the kids stared down at him, thoroughly exasperated.

"Grown-ups," one of them muttered.

"Y'know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you actually laugh?" As the world swam into focus again and his hysterics faded, he saw that Zafirah stood smirking down at him, hands on hips. Behind her, he saw Basam, Hayat, and three others. A moment's thought brought their names to mind—Amir, Dua, and Fikri. Basam's arm was draped casually around Dua's slender shoulders, and Kuei wondered if she was the "friend" Zafirah had mentioned.

"Zafirah!" He clambered unsteadily upright, windmilling his arms to keep his balance. "Have you tried this sand-surfing thing? Well, of course you have, you _live_ here! It's fantastic!" Kuei babbled, waving his arm back at the dune, all while her smirk turned into a broad smile. Then something occurred to him. "The first time you've heard me laugh? Really? In the two weeks I've been here?"

Zafirah shrugged. "It's been a tense couple of weeks."

"That's true," he agreed. "What brings you over here?"

"We were out for a walk and heard a yell." Kuei shrugged sheepishly and Zafirah gave a knowing little nod. The rest of the adults chuckled.

"So, sand surfing, huh?" Basam asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"They insisted," Kuei explained, gesturing to the children behind him.

"He stinks at it," whined one of the younger ones. Kuei just laughed again.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for putting a foreigner on a sand-board," Zafirah joked.

"And what about you, then? You're the sand surfing champion, I suppose?" Kuei joked back, bold from giddiness. Zafirah tossed her head, flicking locks of loosened hair away from her face.

"Hah! I'll have you know I was the best sand surfer in the Janan Tribe back in my day," she bragged, lacing her fingers together and cracking her knuckles. One of the children made a rude noise.

"Oh, she'd like you to think that," Basam interjected. "Really she was only second best." And here he nodded conspiratorially and jerked his thumb at himself.

"Ha, says you," Zafirah retorted.

"Prove it!" crowed the teen boy standing next to Kuei. The rest joined in immediately to echo him. Even the adults chimed in.

"I do believe they're right, Zafirah," Kuei said. "You can't very well make a claim like that without providing some evidence to back it up." He smiled widely and folded his arms across his chest. Zafirah stuck her tongue out at him.

"You just watch me!" And with that, she skated swiftly and gracefully to the top of the dune. He almost couldn't see her standing up there, a hazy black shape against the inky sky. Her silhouette vanished for a second as she dropped over the dune's crest, and then she was tearing down the slope. He almost couldn't follow her, she flew so quickly. The crowd of children around him gasped and cheered as she sailed back and forth across the slope.

Hayat let out a whoop and shouted, "Show 'em how it's done, Zafi!" Sand arced up behind Zafirah in wide plumes and cascaded beneath her sand-board.

Zafirah arrived at the bottom of the slope, cheeks pink, hair windblown, and eyes shining. She pumped her fists in the air as her board glided to a halt in front of the group. "Haha, oh wow! I haven't done that since I was a kid!" she howled gleefully. "How's that for your evidence?" she added smugly to Kuei.

"Well, I don't know… that didn't seem particularly difficult to me," he commented, stroking his chin in feigned contemplation. Hayat stepped between them, pushing them away.

"All right, step aside you two. It's my turn! Who's gonna race me?" she demanded, arms thrown wide. She jutted one hand out, carving a finish line in the sand at the base of the dune. The twins eagerly stepped forward, as did Fikri and Dua. Amir sniffed at them and folded his arms tightly across his chest.

"Aww, Amir, don't be such a sour cactus-face!" Zafirah said, jabbing him with her elbow. He lifted one hand in a little wave.

"Have fun, _kids_," he said with a dry twist of his mouth.

"And yet I don't see you leavin'!" she shot back over her shoulder as the five racers Sandbended their way to the dune's crest. Kuei chuckled. He faintly heard a shout of "And go!" from the crest, and the five came zooming down.

Hayat zipped like lightning across the finish line, far ahead of the others. An outraged howl from Zafirah floated down the slope, and she swooped to the finish close behind Fikri and Basam. Dua drifted in last.

"The best sand surfer in the Janan Tribe, huh, Zafi?" jibed Fikri.

"Yeah, Zafi, you're not doin' a very good job of provin' yourself here," Hayat added.

"Hey, I haven't practiced in about ten years!" Zafirah protested.

"I thought your sand surfing had a certain style to it," Kuei offered. The corners of Zafirah's mouth curved upward.

"Thanks, Kuei," she said, then turned to Fikri and Hayat. "See? My sand surfing has a certain style to it!" Hayat looked like she was about to burst from barely suppressed laughter and Fikri just shook his head.

The night went on in a free-for-all of sand surfing. The children wandered away as time went by, some overdue for bedtime, and some simply aggravated by the adults invading their playtime. Amir left as well, bored by the childish antics of his friends.

Kuei noticed that Zafirah wasn't the only one with her own style of sand surfing. Hayat's style was fast and aggressive; Fikri's was erratic, swerving all over the place; and Dua's was slow and graceful. And Kuei's style… well, he ended up sprawled on the sand more often than not. Eventually, he sat down about midway down the slope, content to observe the others and give his tired legs a rest.

Zafirah's style was smooth and fluid, but _loud_. She sliced across the slope, cackling and hollering and tossing challenges at her friends. Kuei couldn't help but smile as he watched.

Her brother's sand surfing, on the other hand, was sheer artistry! Basam was a sight to see, hurtling down the dune, hunkered down close to his board with his arms swept out behind him. He thrust his hand down into the sand and cut sharply to the right, his face stretched in a broad grin as the sand flew around him. Then he whirled his hands forward and punched them up into the air, and the sand erupted under him. Kuei's jaw dropped as Basam soared up into the air, twisting in mid-flight and landing again with a triumphant cry.

Soon, the rest of the group began to depart. They drifted off one by one, until only Kuei and Zafirah were left on the dune. She persuaded him back onto a sand board despite his weariness, and they surfed together for a while.

Neither of them noticed the odd look Basam gave them as they entered the tent much later, covered in sand and breathless from laughter.

* * *

Kuei awoke the next morning to the sounds of commotion outside the tent. His first panicked thought was that the Fire Nation had finally found them, but then he realized that the voices weren't nearly frightened enough for that.

Looking around, he saw that Zafirah and Basam had gotten up before him—as they always did, thanks to their early-morning watch duty shift.

Kuei got his usual wet-nosed greeting from Bosco as he stepped out of the tent. He patted the bear's head as he looked around the camp. From their glider-tent's location, near the center, he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that felt different. It took a moment for his sleepy mind to fully comprehend what he was seeing, but the first thing he noticed was that the Aqila camp seemed… busier.

Amaris strode past, carrying a heavy roll of sailcloth, and he ran over to her. "What's happening?" he asked.

"Good morning to you too," she said lightly. "The scouts are back," she added, smiling at him. "Sorry, I'd love to stay and chitchat, but I gotta go." She hefted the roll of sailcloth and set off towards the eastern edge of the camp. He and Bosco followed her, and his eyes went to the bundle in her arms.

"Would you like some help carrying that?" he asked.

"That's sweet of you, but I think I got it," she said with a shrug of one shoulder.

"Are you sure? It looks heavy."

She shook her head. "Well, all right, if you're going to insist on being a gentleman… Here, grab that back end." He lifted the back of the sailcloth and they walked onward. They reached the edge of the camp, and the sight that met his eyes left him speechless.

The other tribes had arrived during the night.

"Pardon me," he said to Amaris, who nodded and smiled again. He swung onto Bosco's wide back and rode the bear back to the sand dune, scrambling up its slope to higher ground. "By all the Spirits…" he whispered, hands pressed to his mouth.

The Aqila camp had been unexpectedly big, but now it was _vast_. There were well over a hundred gliders, and more still sailing in. A multitude of voices filled the air, drifting up to him on the early morning breeze.

"Oh, Bosco, they—we have an army! By the Spirits… we might just win this one, after all."

* * *

**BTW, a note on Amaris's story about traveling over the mountains to trade, and the guy she met along the way who was a lot like Kuei: This is a reference to a Kuei fanfic currently being written by my good pal quantumreality. I added that stuff as kind of an inside joke, haha. Here's a link to their Journalfen account, where you'll have to scroll down a ways to find the prologue (the title is "Kuei's Education"): **

**http:/ / www. journalfen. net/ users/ quantumreality/**

**Chapters 5 through 7 contain explicit adult content (and Chapter 8 is locked for the same reason). Consider yourselves warned. **

**And as for the sand-surfing: Katara makes a surfboard out of ice in Part 1 of Sozin's Comet. I feel perfectly justified in creating sand-surfing for Sandbenders.**

**Music time! I'm not entirely sure how I ended up with a nearly all-Disney playlist this time, but oh well. And if you ever have any suggestions for the playlist, please do let me know! I'll be sure to mention your name in the AN here if I end up using any of your suggestions. Missing Youtube links are being updated.  
**

**1) "I'll Make a Man Out of You" [**_**Mulan**_**]—Sparring lessons. What? I had to! C'mon, sing it with me, I know you know the words! ;-)**

**2) "Rain" [**_**Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron**_**]—Zafirah and Kuei sitting in the glider tent. **

**3) "Strangers Like Me" [**_**Tarzan**_**]—Chapter theme, Kuei learns about combat and about life in the tribe. **

**4) "The Lioness Hunt" [The Lion King: original Broadway cast recording]—Kuei spars with Shai and actually wins for once (finally). **

**5) "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" [**_**Lilo & Stitch**_**]—Sand surfing! **

**http:/ / www. youtube. com/watch? v=L4X1_3VipWs**

**6) "The Submarine" [**_**Atlantis: The Lost Empire**_**]—The other tribes arrive. **

**http:/ / www. youtube. com/watch? v=qDVDUKLhc3A**


	8. Chapter 6

**Sorry for yet another long wait between chapters. What happened this time? Well, basically, I got my heart broken and I lost the will to be creative for about a week. And it took a while for my motivation to really return. The thing is, you never realize how accurate the phrase "heart-broken" really is until you've experienced it firsthand. It kinda feels like a cannonball lodged in your ribcage. Hopefully next chapter won't take as long though.**

**Also, I'd never written a full-scale battle before, and I wanted to take my time and make it the most epic battle I possibly could. Only the best for my lovely readers! And BTW, the chapter title is borrowed from the track of the same name on the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 soundtrack (which happens to be on this chapter's playlist). That's why it's in quotes, because I didn't come up with it myself. **

**Here's more new fanart for you guys! It's Basam, being all shirtless and stuff. **

**http: / / skeleton-horse. deviantart. com/ gallery/ 24281150#/ d2ujt5b**

**Once again, infinite thanks to my reviewers, and to my betas, Kitty East and quantumreality. **

**EDIT 8/30/10: Chapter has been revised on the advice of the wonderful OmniSchreiber. :)  
**

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* * *

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**CHAPTER SIX—"WHAT SHALL WE DIE FOR?"**

_Two days before the arrival of the other Sandbender tribes…_

Captain Noji sighed as he stared out over the miles and miles of unending, unchanging sand stretching out beneath his airship. His nation had been at war for a hundred years- it was only natural that there would be dull, dreary missions that _someone_ had to carry out. What Noji didn't understand was why the job always seemed to fall to him.

_What did I do to deserve this?_ he asked himself miserably. Was it his background? Sure, he was from a peasant family that had none of the military glory of most of his compatriots. It wasn't his fault that the rest of his family was unpatriotic, was it? He always followed orders to the letter and with great enthusiasm, and he served his Fire Lord with the utmost pride.

So why did they keep sending him on these menial errands? His last mission had been suppressing a "rebellion" that was nothing but torch-and-pitchfork-wielding farmers, many of whom were too old to lift them above shoulder height. He'd given them a stern talking-to and they'd all gone home. And now he'd been sent to take care of some scavengers out in the middle of hot, sandy nowhere. It wouldn't even be a challenge—track them down from the air, shoot some fireballs, toss some bombs, round up the survivors for manual laborers, and that would be that. His next glamorous task after this was done: heading to a newly established base on the Earth Kingdom's east coast to drop off the seventy-odd infantry soldiers aboard his airship. _Splendid,_ he griped silently.

"Captain Noji, sir," his pilot called out. Noji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again.

"Yes?" he ground out.

"There's a large dust cloud off the starboard side, sir."

"Duly noted," Noji muttered, moving his fingers up to his right temple to massage an oncoming headache. Besides his subordinate's rank incompetence, the sweltering heat in the bridge wasn't doing much to help matters. With the sunlight reflecting off the sand below, the metal room felt like a furnace.

"And it's moving rapidly in an easterly direction, sir." Noji frowned, then strode over to the window along the starboard side of the bridge.

Sure enough, a massive plume of dust was speeding along in a decidedly non-natural way. He pulled out his spyglass for a closer look. He found its source at the base of the cloud, partially hidden beneath it—a convoy of the primitive sand-skiffs favored by the natives. They were moving awfully fast, too.

"Finally," Noji groused. "It's a Sandbender convoy."

"Should we engage them, sir?" asked the pilot.

"Not yet. Take us higher. We'll follow them for a while, and see where they're off to in such a hurry." He smirked—his luck was finally taking a turn for the better.

* * *

Qamar sat at the heart of the sprawling Sandbender camp, with the chieftains of the newly arrived tribes in a circle around her. Their tribespeople gathered outside the circle, watching in strained silence.

The Aqila chieftain gazed at Farid, seated across the circle. Her lips were pressed into a grim line. "You've seen the flying machines," she said levelly. Farid nodded.

"They followed us for most of a day. We lost 'em at nightfall—fanned out our gliders and brought up a dust storm," he said. "That trick bought us a little time, but not much. If they got any brains at all, they won't stay lost for long."

"I agree," Qamar said. She stood and looked around the assembled Sandbenders, studying the faces in the crowd. "The odds are not on our side, I'll admit that right away," she said, her voice rising as she addressed the crowd. "The Fire Nation has entire armies at its command, not to mention these new flying machines. But we have an advantage—when they attack us here, the ash-brained Firebenders will be completely surrounded by our element. We will fight their flying machines from below with the entire desert at our fingertips!"

She paused, smirking fiercely, letting the Sandbenders shout their approval. Once the noise had settled down, she continued. "If they attack by day, the sun itself will fight their foot soldiers from above. Firebender draw strength from the sun, but all fires burn themselves out eventually. In the daylight, under all that heavy armor and with all the heat from their Bending, they will soon feel the exhaustion from lack of water. And if they attack by night, their fire will be weaker and our own power will still be at its best."

Then she grew solemn, her face darkening. "If we lose here, we will lose everything. So let's get to work on strategy, then. We need a plan, and we need it _yesterday_."

* * *

With the strategy meeting over, the crowd disbanded to take care of their various tasks. Some went off for last-minute training sessions, others worked to fortify the camp. After several hours of frantic activity, the camp settled into uneasy stillness. The desert itself seemed to be holding its breath. Kuei, left with nothing to do, retreated with Bosco to the base of the sand dune to meditate.

It wasn't working very well. His mind was in chaos and, in all honesty, he felt like he was going to be sick. Qamar's words whirled ceaselessly in his memory—_If we lose here, we will lose everything. _As he sat there in the dune's shadow, he was painfully aware of what he stood to lose in this battle. And it wasn't merely his own life at stake.

He'd begun this journey with the intention of learning more about his kingdom, so that he could be a better Earth King when (or if) the Avatar defeated the Fire Lord. He'd told himself that if he could just live amongst his people as a commoner, or if he could somehow find a way of helping his nation in the war, he might prove himself worthy of reclaiming his throne.

And now, here he was in the middle of the Si Wong Desert, and the fight had become so much more _personal_. Once again, he found himself picturing the faces of the tribespeople who had accepted him into their company. They'd granted him their grudging respect over the past two weeks as he'd worked, lived, and trained alongside them. But his thoughts kept returning to one image above all others…

Kuei smiled as he recalled sand-surfing with Zafirah the night before—they'd stayed out there long after the rest of the group had left the sand dune to go to sleep. It had been just the two of them, slicing down the slope under the night sky. He could still hear her joyous laughter echoing in his ears. His heart lifted at the memory.

She had a wonderful laugh. It was boisterous and utterly unselfconscious. And the way the moonlight lit up her face—

The thin, reedy cry of a beetle-horn sounded across the camp. _That's the signal!_ Kuei's eyes snapped open as the call shook him from his thoughts. Off in the east, several miles out, three crimson masses drifted high in the air. He felt his blood go cold as he scrambled to his feet. "C'mon, Bosco!" he called. The man and the bear dashed back towards the camp. It was time—the Fire Nation had found them.

* * *

Captain Noji lowered his spyglass, his hands feeling oddly numb as he took in the sight in front of him. "By the Golden Flame," he whispered.

The Fire Nation military prided itself on its adaptiveness—you don't reach the verge of conquering the entire world by being caught unprepared, after all. But here was something that none of the higher-ups back home could ever have prepared for: a massive, _organized_ Sandbender army.

Noji found himself suddenly longing for some good old-fashioned boredom.

* * *

Kuei's pulse hammered in his ears as he and his bear raced towards the glider tent, sand spraying up around him with each pounding footfall. He collided with Basam as he reached the tent.

"Whoa, hey! There you are! We've been looking for you," the Sandbender exclaimed, grabbing Kuei by the shoulders to steady him.

"Need to get my—" he panted.

"This?" Basam held up the Water Tribe club. Kuei nodded gratefully and reached out to take it with a shaking hand. The club fell to the sand. He paused and flexed his fingers, trying to still the tremors.

A sympathetic half-smile crossed Basam's face. "Scared?" he asked.

"You could say that," Kuei murmured, stomach twisting with shame. Basam stooped down and picked up the club.

"We're all scared, man. Anybody that says they're not is either lyin' or just plain stupid. Thing is, whether you're scared or not doesn't really matter, in the end. It's what you do with the fear that makes bravery." He held the club out to Kuei. The exiled king took a breath, then took it and wrapped his hand around the leather grip of the handle.

"Stay here, Bosco," Kuei said, pointing towards the glider tent. The bear gurgled sadly and slunk into the tent, and the two men set off to join the rest of the warriors.

Zafirah met them there. "Oh, good, Basam found you!" she said hurriedly. Her twin hardly seemed to notice; his head twisted this way and that, clearly distracted and looking for someone. "Okay, Kuei, you're over with that group, at the back. We're over here." She gestured to a group of Sandbenders gathering behind her.

"So… we won't be seeing each other again until this is all over," Kuei said, his chest tightening with worry at the thought. _That's assuming we even live to see the end of it._

"Yeah," she agreed in a low voice, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Their eyes met and held for a moment, and then Zafirah stretched her hand out and clasped his upper arm. "Try not to get yourself killed, okay?"

Kuei smiled bleakly. "Hmm. I had planned on dying heroically on the battlefield—but I'll do my best not to, if you insist on it." Zafirah tossed her head back and barked out a laugh.

"That's the spirit!" she crowed. And after a cheerful jab to his shoulder, she turned and jogged off to join her group.

"Well, Kuei, time to go smash some Firebender heads," Basam said, lacing his fingers together and cracking his knuckles. He clapped Kuei on the back. "See you when it's over, huh?"

"I certainly hope so," Kuei agreed. Basam flashed him a reckless grin and headed straight for Dua, who was talking to Hayat nearby. He watched them go, and felt a pang of sorrow in his chest at the thought that this could be his last glimpse of his newfound friends.

* * *

A terrible silence closed in over the Sandbenders as they waited at the eastern edge of the camp, watching as the red shapes got closer and closer. Zafirah clenched her teeth, fuming silently. _Taking their Spirits-be-damned time, aren't they? Why don't they hurry up and get this started, already? _She looked around, taking stock of the warriors around her. The people of each tribe stood with their kin, all with their faces covered and their visors on. Some of the bigger tribes, like the Aqila, had split into halves for easier movement. Zafirah and her twin were in the lead Aqila group, and Kuei was in the rear group. Behind the warriors, all those that couldn't fight were hidden away at the center of the camp.

Basam stood next to her, of course. Hayat was a few rows back, and Fikri was off to her right. Dua wasn't in their group, and she knew her brother wasn't very happy about that. He kept glancing back at the other half of the tribe, trying to steal a peek at her. Amir, Amaris, and Shai were all at the front of the rear group. And Qamar stood tall and proud out in front—this was her camp, the other tribes were her guests, and so she would lead them all into the fight.

The three flying machines kept coming, drifting lower in the sky as they approached. By now, Zafirah saw the tiny, dark shapes of Firebenders, prowling along metal walkways below the front end of the closest machine.

And then she saw ten bursts of light from the walkway, and six little barrel-shaped things hurtling towards them. Zafirah's heart leaped into her throat.

"Now!" Qamar shouted. Moving as one, the lead group dropped to the ground. The sand trembled with the force of their fists hitting home, and they sprang up again, arms raised high. A wall of sand erupted in front of the group, and the air itself shook as the six bombs exploded against it. Dust and sand showered the assembled troops. The silence broke, and the roar of the Sandbender warriors echoed to the skies. Zafirah felt like her blood had caught fire, buzzing down to her fingertips and her toes.

"Here we go," she hissed. The battle had finally started. The lead groups all surged ahead, rushing towards the flying machines. Behind them, the rear groups held at the ready. They all had one simple, vital task: to keep the flying machines from reaching the camp. The two other machines pulled up next to the leading one, all with walkways flooded with soldiers. Zafirah distantly heard some officer up there shout an order, and then fire rained from above.

Fireballs were streaking down all around them, bombs leaving sizzling craters in the sand in between them, smoke stinging their noses and eyes (even through the face coverings) and even still, the Sandbenders kept pressing right on ahead. They brought up barricade after barricade of sand, fighting for every step forward. A loud crack from overhead and the hiss of flames alerted Zafirah to the fireball racing in from the right. "Look sharp!" she cried. She and the right side of the group swept their arms and punched outward—a sand pillar shot out and engulfed the fireball, but not soon enough. Three men on the outer edge screamed and fell, hit with tongues of flame that twisted around the pillar as it crumbled from the blast.

"First blood's been spilled!" Hayat bellowed from somewhere in the chaos. "Let's make 'em pay for it ten times over!" The crowd roared again and pushed forward with even more force, and finally they met the lead machine in the middle of the battleground. But while they gained hard-won ground, the two outer machines pulled away and split off. They put on a burst of speed and soared towards the camp.

"There! Stop them!" Zafirah shouted hoarsely. For a long, terrible moment, chaos turned the Sandbender horde inside-out. They scrambled to react to the Firebenders' change of attack, jostling each other—too slow to stop the bombs that fell on the perimeter rows of glider-tents. The explosion rocked the ground under their feet; the warriors on the back lines went down, thrown through the air like rag dolls. Zafirah felt rooted to the spot. All she could do was watch in horror as flames began to spread from one tent to the next.

After what felt like ages, the Sandbenders rallied to the fight again. The Firebenders' attack had their troops split now: some groups heaved sand onto the burning tents; others kept up the defense. The stream of fireballs hardly ever paused—she'd caught a glance of the walkways and seen that, when one set of Firebenders got tired, fresh soldiers stepped up to take their place. They were leaving no room for counterattacks. So the Sandbenders fought to stay alive. Walls and columns of sand thundered up from the ground, filling the air with dust as fireballs hit them and blew them apart.

She couldn't have said how much time had passed, but all too quickly, Zafirah felt weariness creeping in. She wasn't a soldier—none of them were, and it was starting to show. She and the warriors surrounding her never stopped moving: step, lunge, sweep, deflect, block. It was getting harder each time, though. Her arms felt heavy, her eyes watered and her lungs burned from all the smoke, and now she'd started coughing. _How can we possibly win this? They'll just stay nice and safe in their machines and wear us down, then they can pick us off at their leisure._ She glared up at their enemy, sitting so far above them. _They don't even have the guts to come down and join the fight like real warriors!_ And as she stared up at the dark red flying machines, loathing bubbled up inside her like boiling water.

Somewhere in the mayhem, the blast of a bomb knocked Basam to the ground. He swore furiously and pushed himself up on his forearms. His head was spinning and his ears were ringing. The Sandbender scuttled blindly sideways, too disoriented to stand, until he bumped into something. It was Fikri—the other man sat huddled with his knees drawn up, and he was cradling his left hand to his chest. Fikri looked up as Basam drew close. His visor was gone, and his eyes were wide with pain.

"Hey," Basam said, his voice dry and cracking. Fikri jerked his head up and down in a rough nod. "Let me see that," Basam murmured, gesturing to the other man's hand. He winced in sympathy as Fikri held it out to him. The burn stretched halfway to his elbow from the back of his hand. The wrappings around his hand and forearm hung in singed tatters. Basam clicked his tongue and carefully unwound the ruined cloth. "You gotta get to the healer's tent, man," he told Fikri as he bound up the injury with strips of cloth from his own arm wraps.

"Can't," Fikri rasped. "Have to stay and—"

"No, man. Get to the healer, and get this taken care of." He paused, and grinned. "Then come on back here and make those ugly Fire-freaks wish they'd stayed home today." Fikri's jaw tightened, then he nodded stiffly again. Basam pressed to a stand and carefully pulled the other man to his feet, and together they pushed through the masses. His stomach tightened as they limped through the still-smoking wreckage of the burned gliders. _Please, Spirits, be kind,_ he prayed silently. His knees just about buckled in relief when the healer's tent came into view, untouched by the fires.

The healer had set up shop in the biggest tent in the camp, and already it overflowed with the wounded. Smaller tents had sprung up around it to shelter the people sitting outside. Basam guided his injured friend into one of the less-crowded tents and gently eased him to the ground. As he turned to head back to the battlefield, he found himself face to face with Kuei. There was soot smeared all over his pale face, and sweat-soaked wisps of brown hair stuck out wildly from under his head coverings. Basam saw the Water Tribe club, stuck through his belt. He held a jar of burn salve in one hand, and the other had a death-grip on a roll of bandages.

"Basam? You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, sounding a little frantic.

"No, not me." Basam pointed to Fikri, and Kuei immediately rushed over and knelt in front of him. "How come you're in the healer's tent?"

Kuei gave a distracted half-shrug as he gingerly undid Basam's hastily-made bandages and slathered salve on Fikri's forearm. "Well, there's not much that I could do out there at the moment, with the Firebenders up in their airships—I can't exactly _throw_ that Water Tribe club at them. And I can't really help with the fires, I mean just tossing handfuls of sand at them didn't seem very productive. The healer came around recruiting people to help her, so here I am," he rambled, talking so fast Basam could hardly keep up. Kuei finished tying the fresh bandages and sat back on his heels.

"Yeah, well, we appreciate you helping out," Basam said, working up a faint smile. Then he heard renewed shouts echoing from the battleground and dashed outside the tent. He cursed loudly at the sight that met his eyes and ran back inside.

"C'mon Kuei, it's time to put that training to use!" he announced. He grabbed the sputtering outsider by the sleeve and hauled him outside.

* * *

Captain Noji was growing impatient. "They just keep deflecting our attacks," he muttered. His soldiers' bombardment was taking its toll, but not quickly enough. He wanted to be done with this sandy wasteland, and soon! He turned to his lieutentant, his mind made up. "Take down this message and send it to the other airships," he ordered, then strode to the loudspeaker. "This is the captain. I want all available troops down on that battlefield immediately. Take these savages down, now!"

* * *

A hush had fallen over the Sandbenders as the rain of fire and bombs suddenly slowed. A low, grinding rumble sounded from the machines, and massive hatches opened in their vast bellies. Long ropes had dropped down from inside them, and hordes of soldiers came sliding down. Qamar counted at least seventy dropping from the lead machine, and narrowed her eyes at the sight. "What are they doing?" she whispered.

Zafirah gaped in disbelief at what she was seeing. The high and mighty Firebenders were coming to go toe-to-toe with her and her people. Why now? Why were they leaving their machines all of a sudden? But then, she realized exactly what this meant. And so did the rest of the Sandbenders, because they kicked up a cry like none she'd ever heard before. And for the first time since the start of the battle, Zafirah grinned.

Shai stumbled up and grabbed her by the arm. He was limping a little and his head coverings were all askew. "You okay?" he panted, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his other hand.

"More or less," she said. "You?"

"Fine, fine," he grunted. He glanced skyward. "What are they up to, Zafi?" he wondered. She laughed breathlessly and tugged away the cloth still covering her nose and mouth.

"Who cares! Don't you see, Shai? They're not tucked away all safe and sound in their machines anymore. It's just like Qamar said—they're in our element now, and we're gonna fight 'em with the whole desert at our fingertips! Remember the plan, from the strategy talk?"

"Sure," Shai said. Zafirah gripped the front of his tunic, heart hammering as the urgency of the situation hit her.

"This is it! There's less of 'em up there to shoot fireballs down our throats—this is our chance!"

"What are you saying?" he demanded. She turned towards the machine above them, and the ropes hanging from it. Dropping into her stance, Zafirah swept her arms in an arc around herself. A stream of sand flowed up between her hands, and as they moved in circles around each other, the sand flattened out into a disk. She spun, lunged, and sliced her right arm through the air. The disk of sand sped up and cut clean through one of the ropes. The soldiers clinging to it hollered in shock as they plunged to the dirt.

"It's time to bring down those flying machines. Spread the word, okay?" And with that, she pulled him down and kissed him hard. "It's our turn now!" she exulted, and ran off to find Qamar.

The soldiers were on the ground now, and flooding through the chaotic Sandbender ranks. Kuei and Basam were nearly back to back. Kuei had a white-knuckled grip on the Water Tribe club, and Basam stood in a half-crouch with his fists raised and ready. A foot soldier off to the right spotted them and charged—heading right for Kuei. Just like before, at the oasis, the distance between them seemed to shrink with impossible speed, and the club felt too heavy in his hands, and the soldier seemed to grow bigger and bigger the closer he got. And just like before, he saw the soldier's armored fist pull back, but now there were sparks glittering in front of his knuckles.

But this time, Kuei dodged. He twisted and sidestepped, and the soldier stumbled forward. Kuei raised the club high, grasping it with both hands, and brought it down with all his strength on the back of the Firebender's helmet. And just like before, someone was shouting hoarsely and he was certain it was himself.

_Clang! _The Firebender grunted loudly and toppled face-first into the sand. Kuei gaped dumbly at the crumpled, red shape at his feet. Then his face split into a wide grin.

"Ha!" he yelled breathlessly, thrusting a triumphant finger at the soldier. "That's for Ba Sing Se! Hahaha!" He heard an enraged cry behind him and turned in time to see another Firebender racing towards him, fire daggers gleaming from his fists. Kuei parried with a blow to the soldier's left arm, just as Zafirah had taught him, then swung the club. It connected with the side of the man's head and he buckled. "And that's for Avatar Aang!" Kuei exclaimed.

He glanced over his shoulder, looking for Basam, but the Sandbender had disappeared into the tumult. In that tiny moment of distraction, he almost didn't notice the spear-carrying soldier running at him. He spun just in time to smack aside the spearhead aimed at his chest. The soldier spun the long-handled weapon and wielded it like a staff. Kuei barely dodged the haft of the weapon as it swung towards his torso. Then Kuei felt a sharp blow across the backs of his ankles, sweeping his feet out from underneath him. He landed hard on his back and saw a second soldier looming above him. The first spear-wielder put a metal clad foot on Kuei's chest and pointed the tip of the blade at his throat.

Oddly—or perhaps not so oddly—the first thing that entered his mind as he lay there was that brief conversation with Zafirah before the battle.

In the center of the camp, Bosco had gotten curious about all the yelling and the smoke. His master had told him to stay there, but the smell of burning in the air had him unsettled. The bear stood and paced anxiously out of the tent. He lifted his nose and sniffed. There it was—the familiar scent of his human. He followed the trail until he found his master, but he wasn't alone. He saw two humans in red and black knock his human to the ground, and one of them put a foot on him, holding him down. The red and black human held a long stick to his master's neck, and then there was a new smell coming from him: fear. The thick hackles on Bosco's neck rose, and he bared his teeth.

Kuei squeezed his eyes shut as the spearhead drew back for the final blow. And then there was a terrified scream—an inhuman bellow—a sickening metallic crunch—and the weight of the boot on his chest vanished, followed by the thud of a body hitting the dirt several feet away. Kuei cracked his eyelids open, and then his eyes flew wide. His pet bear crouched beside him, his bared fangs gleaming. Kuei scrambled backwards and jumped upright. "What in the _world_?" he gasped.

The remaining soldier took a half-hearted step forward and lifted his spear. Bosco rose on his hind legs, stretching up to his impressive full height, and _roared_. The soldier threw his spear down and ran for it. Kuei laughed elatedly and punched his fists in the air. "Oh, well done, Bosco!" The bear grunted, then swatted away an incoming Firebender with a forepaw the size of a dinner plate. Kuei beamed at his pet. "Come on, let's send these Firebenders running back to their little islands!" The two of them dashed off into the fray.

Elsewhere, as the fight went on and on into the late afternoon, Basam found himself cornered. There were two Firebenders in front of him, one spear-carrier on his left, and a soldier with a sword on his right. Behind him were the glider tents. The swordsman lunged—Basam ducked, leaning back to get out of the blade's path, then thrust his left foot out and twisted his heel against the dirt. The swordsman sank up to his knees in the sand, and Basam sent a crest of sand surging at one of the Firebenders. It caught the man off-guard and sent him reeling back, but only for a moment. He punched one fire-blast after another at the Sandbender, and his buddy joined in as well. They pushed Basam backwards, one stumbling step at a time, while he pulled up sand shields and launched sand pillars at them. One of them finally found its mark, dead-center on the Firebender's chest. The armored man hurtled through the air and clanked to the ground close by. He didn't have time to enjoy the moment, though, as he saw the spear-carrier thrust at him from the corner of his eye. The tip of the blade raked across his side, making him shout in pain. With a flick of his wrist, a stream of sand flew up into the man's unprotected face. He yelled and his left hand darted up to wipe at the grit in his eyes. Basam seized hold of the spear, wrenched it out of his hands, and smacked him upside the head with its haft.

"Yeah!" Basam cheered as the soldier crumpled. He felt the heat from the second Firebender's next strike just a heartbeat before it reached him. He whirled and brought his arms to his chest, and the fireblast crashed against the sand wall that rushed upward. The sand actually sizzled and crackled from the heat of the blast. Basam thrust his hands out, whipping the sand wall back at his attacker. As soon as he did it, he knew something odd had just happened. The Firebender reeled back, muffled cries coming through his faceplate as he swiped at the globs of red-hot molten sand smoldering away on his armor. Basam stared, dumbfounded, before recovering his wits and launching the man high into the air on a well-aimed sand pillar.

"That's something interesting," he muttered. He hardly even noticed as the Firebender crashed down into the smoking wreck of a burned glider tent behind him. The sound of a beetle-horn trumpet sounded over the battlefield. Five calls—the signal to regroup. He rushed off, following the sound to its source.

As he ran, wincing at the pain in his side, it was obvious that the battle was still going badly for them. While he was racing forward, it seemed like everyone around him was falling back. The Fire Nation was pushing them back towards the camp.

Finally, he heard his name being shouted over the din. He glanced around and spotted Zafirah, waving at him. Qamar, Amir, and Hayat stood close by. A huge, ragtag group of Sandbender warriors had gathered behind them. He saw some faces from the Aqila Tribe, but most were from the other tribes. He wove his way through to his twin and she hugged him tightly. "How're you doin'?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard. She was bleeding from a deep cut on her cheek.

"'Bout as well as you'd expect," he answered. "What about you? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. You seen Kuei anywhere?" Her forehead creased in a deep frown.

"Yep—he was back there, by the tents."

"Good," Zafirah said, relaxing visibly.

"You seen Dua around?" Basam asked hopefully.

"Nope. Sorry," Zafirah said, wincing sympathetically. Basam clenched his jaw and nodded, forcing back the surge of panic that clawed at his heart. _One thing at a time,_ he told himself. _You won't do her any good if you lose your head here._

His sister spoke again. "All right, here's the deal: we're taking down the flying machines." Basam stared at her, and then at the machines.

"The flying machines?" he echoed. "_Those_ flying machines?"

"Yup. It's the only way to end this Spirits-be-damned mess," Amir chimed in.

Qamar stepped forward, and the five Sandbenders huddled close. "The group we have here will work on this one." She pointed to the lead machine. "There'll be others keeping the soldiers off our back and flanks."

"And the other two?" Basam asked.

"Those'll be up to the rest of our warriors," Hayat said. Basam took a deep breath, then grinned.

"Okay then, let's bring 'em down."

The group stood forty strong in all, lined up in four columns of ten. Just like Qamar had said, about thirty more surrounded them on all sides to block the Fire Nation's attacks. From her spot in the third column, Zafirah's eyes darted to the group's left flank. With a jolt, she glimpsed an unmistakable mass of brown fur through the crowd. And next to the bear, with his back to the group, was Kuei. It had to be him—she saw the blue and white blur of the Water Tribe club swinging left, right, and center at the Firebenders advancing on them. One of the soldiers took a solid blow to the forehead and dropped like a rock. Kuei shook his fist at the man and shoved him away with his foot. Zafirah felt a swell of pride on the tourist's behalf.

And then it was time. Fireballs pelted down from the remaining soldiers on the walkway overhead, and the line of front guards threw up a sand shield to block them. Behind the shield, the first half of the group made their move.

Zafirah breathed deep as she went into the kata: the warriors took one step forward and dropped into a crouch; they punched their fists against the ground. The ground shook from the combined force of the warriors' Bending. They rose again, arms spreading wide and lifting level with their shoulders, their palms facing skyward. The shaking grew stronger yet as a fissure gouged itself into the sand before them, stretching twice the width of the group. Clouds of dust billowed up from it. The warriors stepped forward again and swung their arms—back, down, and high above their heads—and a sound like thunder roared across the dunes.

Up on the airship's bridge, Captain Noji's mouth hung open as the sand wall exploded upward from the desert floor. It climbed higher and higher, until it blocked out the setting sun. It defied all logic—everything he'd ever been taught about the savage central Earth Kingdom. How could a horde of primitive sand-rats have so much power?

Then the monstrous sand wall surged towards his ship. Noji gasped and braced himself against the helm. Even so, the impact buckled his knees and sent him sprawling onto the metal deck. It was like a rogue wave crashing against a ship at sea. The plate glass windows shattered; Noji threw his arms up to protect his face from the shower of shards. The mighty airship reeled back and swung sideways, listing dangerously to the right.

It was the second group's turn, and Hayat was practically squirming in anticipation. She'd been waiting for a chance like this all day. Her hands quivered a little as she and the rest of the group began—it was all up to them now. All together, the warriors took a backward step, their arms swinging back behind themselves. Just like the first group, they crouched down, but now they sliced their fingertips forward through the sand at their feet. They sprang up again and flung their arms up to the sky.

The sand wall slid back and twisted, taking on a shape like the blade of an axe. Hayat twisted her body sideways, her left arm extending towards the wall as she drew her right arm back. Her heart thudded against her ribs. _This is it! _

The warriors let loose a battlecry that rattled the Firebenders to their bones, and delivered the final blow. Hayat's left arm whipped back to counterbalance as her right arm swung in an arc overhead, slicing the air like a knife.

The sand blade struck the flying machine's massive midsection with all the finality of a butcher's cleaver. Captain Noji didn't see that last blow, but he certainly felt it. And he heard a savage shredding sound as it tore into the airship's midsection; and he heard the first explosions start near the engine rooms. He picked himself up off the floor, dusted off his armor, and smoothed back a few stray wisps of hair that had come loose from his topknot. His hands shook violently as he did it. _A Fire Nation captain faces death with dignity,_ he thought. That's what he'd been told, anyway. And Noji always followed orders. He heard another explosion, much closer to the bridge this time. Noji stood with his back straight, and turned to face the bridge door. A third one, just outside, and then—

_BOOM! _The flying machine blasted itself apart, fire lighting up the sky from one explosion after another.

"Yes!" Zafirah whooped, thrusting her fists into the air. A deafening roar went up from the crowds of warriors as it sank in: the tide of battle had turned against the Fire Nation. The soldiers attacking the edges of the group faltered; chaos broke apart their ranks as their mighty machine went down. Their panicked yells went almost unnoticed, drowned out by the Sandbenders that turned to jeer at them. Now the soldiers were the ones surrounded.

_BOOM! _Explosion after explosion rocked the evening air as, on the southern side of the camp, the second machine went up in flames. Still more cheers echoed over the sunset-lit dunes. Zafirah could feel their joy like a living thing all around her. It thrummed in her head and boiled through her veins.

Then another beetle-horn call rang out from the northern side of camp—from the battle beneath the third machine. "Everyone! Quickly!" Qamar shouted. The Sandbenders raced to help their kin, Kuei and Bosco rushing along at the back of the crowd. They arrived just as the southern-side group's sand wall fell. Soldiers had the warriors penned in, bombarding them on all sides. The machine was starting to recover from being hit with the sand wall, as well. It was coming back around for another attack. The newly arrived group charged in, busting the Fire Nation ranks right open. Kuei's arms were well and truly aching now, but he ignored it and swung away with his club. Bosco didn't seem to be getting tired at all. His massive paws snapped out yet again, bowling over a spear-carrier. The soldier collided with a Firebender and they both hit the dirt.

With the soldiers occupied, the third and last flying machine sat wide open. Kuei looked on as the warriors moved through their stances and struck—a colossal sand pillar exploded up from the ground, right beneath the airship. _Wham!_ It slammed into the walkways suspended under the ship; the metal gave way with a grinding, screaming crunch. The sand pillar punched the metal wreckage straight up, into the ship's massive underbelly, and…

_BOOM! _The third airship erupted in flames. Kuei felt the gust of hot air from the explosion against his face, ruffling his head coverings. For a few seconds, there was no sound besides the crackling of the flames. Stillness fell over Sandbenders and Fire Nation soldiers alike. Then, somewhere on the far edge of the battlefield, a soldier broke the silence. Evidently, someone had figured out the chain of command and decided to take matters into his own hands.

"_Retreat!_" he bellowed. "Soldiers, fall back and regroup!" Chaos descended again as the soldiers broke ranks and fled. As last stands go, it was a spectacularly short-lived attempt: the Sandbenders swarmed around the soldiers, cutting them off from their fellows.

"And just _where_ were you all planning on going?" One voice rose over the noise. The soldiers froze, and everyone turned to look at its source. To Kuei's surprise, it was Amir, the surly Aqila Tribesman. He limped forward and looked around at the soldiers, contempt etched on his face. "Your flying machines are gone. _We _took them down. What'll a retreat and a regroup get you? Even if you somehow did win this fight, _where would you go?_ Look around, ash-brains—this is the Si Wong Desert! Even if you beat us, you'd still all die out here." Panicked murmurs raced through the soldiers' ranks, accompanied by the heckling of the Sandbenders surrounding them. Amir smirked at them. "It's over, and you _lost_."

A raucous cheer erupted from the Sandbender warriors, like a dam breaking. It rang out over the dunes, filling the swiftly darkening sky. Kuei laughed and joined the cheer, throwing his arms up and hollering and whooping along with his fellow fighters. "We won!" he shouted. Bosco roared joyously and clapped his paws together. The bear and his human hugged each other happily.

"Kuei!" He turned upon hearing his name, just in time to see a tan blur streaking towards him. Zafirah barreled into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, laughing wildly in his ear. "We did it! We beat the Fire Nation!" she shrieked. She pulled her right arm loose and stuck her hand under his head coverings, mussing his hair. Before he could react, she dropped her arms, flashed one last manic smile at him, and tore off to deliver another ferocious hug to Hayat. He watched her go, still grinning widely, a feeling of warmth growing within his chest.

He found himself shuffled off to one side as the Sandbenders rounded up the remaining soldiers and marched them off to the edge of the camp. Soon, they would have to decide what to do with the soldiers. Kuei wound up near the wreckage of the lead ship. He watched the flames still burning amidst the twisted metal. The sound of two sets of footsteps crunching on the sand got his attention—it was the twins. Zafirah and Basam joined him beside the smoldering wreck. The three of them stood in silence for a moment, and then Zafirah draped her arms around the shoulders of the men on either side of her.

"We made history today, y'know," she said softly.

"We did," Basam agreed. "Of course, the Fire Nation'll just cover it up once they hear about it, so no one'll know besides us."

"Well then… someone will just have to spread the word," Kuei murmured.

* * *

Several hours passed. The soldiers were under guard at the edge of the camp, with their backs against the sand dune.

With their wounds tended to, and the safety of the non-warriors ascertained, the Sandbenders gathered to decide the fate of their captives. Kuei sat in his usual place, right beside the twins. Basam had found Dua, safe and sound aside from a few cuts and bruises, and the two were now contentedly glued to each other's sides.

"We can't keep prisoners of war," one of the chieftains pointed out. "We barely got enough food and water for our _families_, never mind those ash-brained soldiers!"

"That's right!" several others agreed.

"We're all aware of that," Qamar said, "And I doubt anyone here'd argue otherwise. So what's to be done with them?"

"I say we leave 'em for the desert to finish off," shouted someone from across the crowd.

"No way! We're not butchers like _them_!" another protested. Finally, quiet Dua piped up.

"Why don't we let 'em go?" she asked. There was stunned silence for a few seconds. "I have an idea…"

"Go ahead, Dua," Qamar said, smiling. The soft-spoken woman explained her plan. When she was finished, the chieftains grinned and nodded at each other. Basam beamed proudly at her and rubbed his palm against the small of her back.

Qamar stood up. "Okay, it's decided. Let's have a chat with our prisoners."

The soldiers glared balefully at Qamar as she approached, the rest of the chieftains behind her. She lifted her hand in a mocking greeting.

"You're a lucky bunch, y'know," she began. "See, unlike you Fire Nation folks, we savages have mercy." She paused to let it sink in, smiling pleasantly. "We're going to take you to the edge of the desert and let you go. The thing is, you're our witnesses. You soldiers saw, with your own eyes, that it's not so easy to break the Sandbender tribes. The Si Wong Desert is ours, and _we will defend it!_"

* * *

**Whew! Well, I hope that was suitably epic. :D Those **_**BOOM!**_**'s at the end of the battle were a little homage to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, which is this chapter's theme and one of my favorite classical pieces. It's a nod to the cannon blasts during the piece's finale. This was an utterly exhausting chapter to write, so I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on it. **

**Here's what's going to happen with the playlist. I've come up with a new, simpler system. On my Journalfen account, there will be a post at the top of the journal's first page. The title will say, "THE OFFICIAL CST PLAYLIST POST". And this is where the playlist for each new chapter will be posted! **

**Here it is. Enjoy! EDIT 12/6/2010: Most of the links in this entry are now defunct and are being updated.  
**

**h t t p:/ / www. journalfen. net/ users/ ayala_atreides/ 48650. html**


	9. Chapter 7

**Yes, it's time for the aftermath of the battle. Plans will be made, things will happen, etc. No fanart this time, though.**

**Many many thanks to my reviewers and my lovely betas. **

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* * *

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**CHAPTER SEVEN—THE ROAD AHEAD**

Kuei awoke the next morning, and immediately wished he was asleep again. There wasn't a single part of him that didn't ache. His throat was bone-dry, his skin felt sticky, and his clothes were stiff and scratchy from dried sweat.

Even with the battle over, there was little respite for the Sandbenders. They'd stayed up all through the night, cleaning up from the battle. They'd placed the soldiers near the airship wreckages, once the fires had been put out. They didn't bother posting a guard. Amir was right—the soldiers had nowhere to escape to, especially now that the chieftains had agreed to let them go.

With the fires and the soldiers taken care of, it was time to start putting their camp back together. Kuei had returned to the healer's tent to help with the wounded; he knew he'd be of limited use in what the Sandbenders would do next.

Sandbender culture required that the dead be buried before the next sunrise. For all Kuei's lack of social expertise, he knew not to intrude on something like this. He'd offered to help before, after the raid on the Oasis, and he remembered the reply Basam had given him then: _This is our duty_. Hours later, as the grey light of dawn brightened the eastern horizon, the Sandbenders finally retreated to their tents. Kuei had met up with the twins again just outside their shared tent. The three of them hadn't even bothered to unroll their blankets before collapsing onto the sand and drifting off to sleep.

The soreness in his limbs receded as memories from their victory flooded back. He grinned up at the floor planks of the glider above his head. He rolled onto his side, and was more than a bit surprised to find the siblings still fast asleep. In the weeks he'd been there, he'd never woken up before them.

Zafirah was curled up in a sinuous ball on her side. The cut on her cheek, cleaned and treated, stood out in the dim light filtering into the tent. Even asleep, the Sandbender couldn't quite hold still. Her lips twitched and she wriggled into an even tighter ball. "Dun' wanna ride th' buzzard-wasp," she mumbled. Kuei bit the inside of his cheek to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape his throat. He made a mental note to ask her what she'd dreamed about later.

When he left the tent, the camp was quieter than he'd ever seen it. It seemed that Zafirah and Basam weren't the only ones sleeping in. It was already past midday, judging by the sun.

"Hello, Kuei." He looked up to see Qamar sitting by a small cooking fire. A pot simmered over the flames. Bosco was at her side—as usual, the bear had found the first available source of breakfast. She waved at him, then gestured for him to join her. He did, sitting down across from her. "I hear you and your pet gave those soldiers a thing or two to talk about," she said lightly.

Kuei smiled. "Well, I'd like to think we did." Qamar nodded, but didn't smile back. She stirred the contents of the pot with a long-handled spoon.

"Have you decided what's next for you yet?" she asked.

"Er, no, not really," he admitted. "It seemed a bit overly optimistic to consider it in the face of the battle."

"Fair point," Qamar admitted. There was a beat of silence before she went on. "You know you can't stay here."

Kuei sighed. "Yes, I know." He wanted to argue, to insist he could find a place here, but he knew she was right. That didn't take out the sting of hearing it so bluntly. Qamar stirred the pot's contents again.

"I wish it didn't have to happen like this, but I don't have a choice. We can't afford to keep anybody that can't pull their weight. We definitely can't afford to keep your pet. If you were an Earthbender, I'd be glad to have you. But—"

"But the desert isn't my home," Kuei finished sadly. "I do understand." He shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not really sure where home _is_ anymore."

"Hmm. Well, bein' a nomad, I see it like this: if you feel like you're home, you probably are." And now she did smile at him.

"Proverbs with breakfast, huh?" Zafirah plopped down next to him. For once, she looked genuinely relaxed. There was a new lightness to her expression. Basam sat down next to her, smiling broadly.

"Good morning," Kuei said.

"Oh, it most definitely is! First decent night's sleep I've had in weeks," Basam said cheerfully.

"I'll say," his twin agreed. The three of them accepted bowls of rice from Qamar and dug in.

Kuei turned to Zafirah. "Speaking of which, did you have any interesting dreams?" he asked.

"Not that I remember," she said around a mouthful of rice. Then she lowered the bowl and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?" she asked suspiciously, drawing out the Y sound of the word.

"When I woke up this morning, you were talking in your sleep—something about not wanting to ride a buzzard-wasp."

She lifted her chin and her mouth pressed into a thin line. "You were watchin' me sleep?" she asked icily. Kuei winced.

"No, no, it was nothing like that, I just—" he spluttered. Then he saw the mischievous glimmer in her eye.

"You're _so_ fun to mess with," she giggled. He shook his head, but found himself chuckling along with her.

"I'd say you get used to her sense of humor," Basam interjected, "But that'd be dishonest." He laughed and deflected the little crest of sand that Zafirah sent his way. She glanced over at Kuei, a slight frown creasing her forehead.

"Sorry. Is the teasing bugging you?" she asked.

"Oh, no," he assured her. "Though it's certainly a change from Ba Sing Se- everyone there treated me as though I were made of porcelain."

Zafirah let out an almost wicked-sounding laugh. "Oh, don't you worry. We don't have porcelain here in the desert!"

Kuei couldn't help the swell of affection he felt, sitting there with his friends, but it was a bittersweet sensation. _I'll never see them again,_ he realized. _I'm not ready to leave them._ He felt Qamar's eyes on him. _I'll just have to make the most of the time I have left, then._

* * *

The Sandbenders had plenty of work to do as the afternoon went on. Kuei and the siblings, along with others who'd finally woken up, set themselves to the task of repairing sand gliders. It was difficult work at first, since Kuei had never handled the hammers and saws and other tools involved in construction. Soon enough, though, he'd settled into a steady rhythm.

Qamar's question from breakfast tugged at his thoughts—what was next? Where would he go after he'd left the desert? He couldn't go back to the aimless wandering that had brought him here. Not after the battle. Their victory had left him feeling inspired to action.

He needed to _do_ something. There had to be some way he could help with the struggle against the Fire Nation, besides fighting on the front lines. For all the Firebender heads he'd knocked in the battle, there was just no getting around the fact that he simply wasn't the warrior type.

He was still puzzling over the matter when Qamar approached the glider he was working on. "Kuei, can I talk with you?" she called up to him. He nodded and clambered down from the top of the glider. There was that look on her face again—the same look she'd worn at breakfast. It was the face of someone with bad news. "I've been talking to the other chieftains about the prisoners. We're arranging a convoy that'll take 'em to the edge of the desert tomorrow morning."

"Ah." Kuei realized with a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going.

"We think you should be on that convoy." Again he felt the urge to protest, but he forced it down. Qamar didn't look very happy about it, either, but that wasn't much consolation. It was selfish, he knew, but he still wished he could stay.

So that was it, then. _By this time tomorrow, I'll be out of the desert._ He'd be back on the road, alone.

Again.

"All right," he replied heavily. Qamar's mouth twisted in an apologetic grimace and she moved off. Zafirah and Basam walked past her, coming the opposite direction. They were each carrying a roll of sailcloth over one shoulder.

"What'd Qamar want?" Basam asked once the Aqila chieftain was out of earshot. Kuei drew in a breath, wondering what the twins' reactions would be.

"I'm leaving the desert tomorrow," he said, his voice quiet. Zafirah's cloth roll slipped forward off her shoulder, and the front end hit the ground with a muffled thump.

"Tomorrow?" she exclaimed. Her eyes had gone wide as soon as he'd said it.

"Aw, no! Why so soon?" Basam asked plaintively. Kuei relayed the discussion he'd had with Qamar at breakfast, as well as her latest decision about the convoy. "Wow, that's a shame. We're gonna miss you, tourist," said Basam.

"Yeah," Zafirah said softly. Her gaze was fixed on the sand at her feet. "C'mon Basam, we gotta get these sails up." Kuei watched them go, and went back to work.

* * *

Zafirah cursed under her breath as she sat atop one of the gliders, fumbling with a tangled rope. She could feel Shai's eyes on her. He tugged on the other end of the rope, getting her attention.

"Hey. What's going on with you?" he asked. She huffed a breath as the knot came undone, then jammed the end of the rope through the metal ring in the sailcloth.

"Nothing," she growled.

"Really? 'Cause where I'm sitting, it looks like you're thinkin' of stranglin' someone with that." He gestured to her work. He frowned when she didn't say anything. "Seriously, what's wrong? Is it about the battle?"

"No. It's just…" She fiddled with the edge of the sail. "The outsider's leaving in the morning," she admitted finally.

"Oh." Shai didn't sound all that upset by the prospect. "Well, it's probably for the best. A guy like that's not cut out for the desert."

"Yeah, but I guess I'm gonna miss him when he goes," Zafirah muttered.

"You will, huh?" said Shai tightly. The tone of his voice made her head snap up to look him in the eye.

"Oh, Shai, don't tell me you're jealous!" she protested.

"I'm worried! I still give a damn about what happens to you. That didn't change just 'cause we broke up!" he insisted. He crouched in front of her and gripped her upper arm. "Look, you know how outsiders are. You saw 'em every Spirits-be-damned day at the Oasis. They all want something from us Sandbenders, but sooner or later, they run out of uses for us. You can't trust 'em like you trust your kin."

Zafirah jerked her arm out of his grip. "Yeah, I know that," she snapped. "I did business with those types all the time, so don't you talk to me like I'm some naïve child! You know why Kuei's here? He _volunteered_ to come with us. He wanted to help us pass the message along after the raid on the Oasis. If he'd wanted out, he'd have been gone as soon as the soldiers left."

"I can think of a pretty good reason why he'd stay," Shai said, staring straight into her eyes. Zafirah sputtered in protest, her temper rising. But then she remembered the day after the attack, and finding out that Kuei had saved her life- _There were plenty of unpleasant favors a nobleman could demand from a peasant to cover such a debt..._ Generally speaking, outsider men only wanted one thing from Sandbender women. The memory took a little of the wind out of her sail.

She just sat there for a moment, looking at Shai. Her eyes traced his familiar features; he had a rounder face than most Sandbender men. His eyes always held steady, no matter what was going on around him. She sighed and spoke up. "Kuei's never laid a finger on me. Had plenty of chances to, though—there were nights Basam was with Dua and it was just the two of us," she said flatly.

"Zafi—"

"_Shai._ Go help somebody else for a while, will you?" He frowned again, but stood up and left anyway.

He was right, though—most outsiders that came through the Oasis couldn't be trusted. In her time running the weapons shop with her twin, she'd been threatened, cheated, and leered at more times than she could count. The outsider men she dealt with were almost always rude and greedy. Sure, there were rotten apples among her kin; Ghashiun and his gang of thieves came to mind. But most Tribespeople wouldn't cheat one another. Living in the desert was tough enough without worrying that your neighbors were aiming to stab you in the back.

And then there was Kuei, the outsider who always looked her in the eye. He was still an unsolved riddle, and unsolved riddles drove her nuts. Why was he so different from the rest of the tourists and merchants at the Oasis? He'd offered up his help, he'd worked and fought alongside the Aqila tribe without ever asking for special treatment.

And he was still gorgeous. That wasn't helping at all. Gorgeous and kind and… She shook her head, as if that could get rid of the redness she felt rising in her cheeks. _Don't torture yourself, girl,_ she thought. _He'll be gone by this time tomorrow._ But that was the problem—she wasn't ready to see him leave.

* * *

Night fell again, and the Aqila Tribe gathered for dinner. As Kuei walked towards the cooking fire, a tug on his sleeve stopped him. He turned and saw a familiar smile.

"Amaris!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since the battle started yesterday. How did you fare? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Amaris said. "A few scrapes and a little burn on my leg, but nothing too bad. What about yourself?"

"I'm fine—I'm more exhausted than hurt." Then he remembered Basam bringing Fikri into the healer's tent. "How is Fikri? His arm took a rather nasty-looking burn."

Amaris winced. "Well, his hand's in pretty bad shape. It'll scar up, and the healer says his fingers won't work right for a while," she said quietly.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Kuei murmured. The two took their portions of the food and cups of water. Kuei got an extra portion, as he always did, to give to Bosco. They weaved through the crowd and sat down with Zafirah, Basam, Dua, and Hayat. Kuei delivered the news of his imminent departure, much to Amaris's dismay. He also told them about the feeling he'd had earlier, the urge to action, to strike out at the Fire Nation. They sympathized with the feeling, but didn't have any suggestions for him.

At the end of the meal, Qamar stood and walked to the middle of the gathering. She was holding a small drum in her hands. Silence fell over the tribe as all eyes turned to their chieftain.

"We won a tremendous victory yesterday," she proclaimed. Kuei smiled thinly; there was something reassuring about Qamar's directness, even when she'd used it to deliver bad news earlier. The Sandbenders cheered at her words, raising their drinking cups. "We also lost many of our kin, our friends. Tonight we'll celebrate our victory, and we'll celebrate the memories of the ones that fell."

She handed the drum to a young man sitting by her feet. He took it and started up a slow rhythm that pulsed like a heartbeat. Qamar began to sing a lilting melody in the old tongue, her voice low and smooth. The rest of the tribe picked it up, a few at a time, until every voice had joined in. Kuei bowed his head and sat in silence. Like the burial the night before, he felt as though he were intruding on something private.

The sound of the voices rising and falling around him made the little hairs at the back of his neck stand up. The rhythm of the old tongue was far different from the soft, sedate music his tutors had taught him.

The song ended, and silence settled over the Sandbenders as they reflected on their lost friends and family. Kuei stood quietly, glad that he and his friends were near the outer edge of the group, and retreated to bring Bosco his dinner. He knelt down next to the bear and stroked his thick fur.

"Qamar's right, Bosco. We should leave. We'd never truly fit in here, anyway," he murmured. Bosco didn't look convinced. The animal gurgled sadly and nudged Kuei's shoulder with his nose. "Well, of course I'll miss them! But this is their home, not ours. I can't impose on them like that!" Bosco rumbled insistently. "Yes, I'll miss her quite a lot," he admitted. He gave the bear one last pat on the head and left.

By the time he returned to the group, two more drummers and three men with flutes had joined the drummer by the fire. They played a lively melody that swirled and leaped and coursed through the night air. He could hardly see the musicians, though, as most of the Sandbenders were on their feet and dancing around them. The dancers moved in two rings around the fire, one within the other. Their movements were quick and agile, looking more like Sandbending forms than anything else.

He couldn't see either of the twins, but Basam spotted him quickly enough. The other man darted out of the outer circle and seized his arm, pulling him over.

"Oh, n-no, I couldn't possibly," he protested, lifting his hands as if to ward the Sandbender off. "I don't know any of the steps, I'd only get in your way—"

"Shush. C'mon and dance with us, outsider!" he insisted. He dragged Kuei into the circle, and the exiled king had no choice but to try to keep up. Despite his protests, he caught on to the dance quickly and found himself laughing and smiling along with the rest. No, the desert wasn't his home. But for now, he could enjoy the kindness of his friends and, for once, feel like he was part of a community.

The circle dance broke up, but the music kept going. Now the Sandbenders split off to dance. Some were in pairs, others in clusters of three or more. Zafirah strolled up to him, smiling somewhat dryly.

"Enjoying your last night?" she asked.

"I am, thank you," he said. She arched her eyebrows and nodded past him. He turned to find Amaris standing close by. The shorter woman extended her right hand to him and grinned.

"Dance?" she asked, her wide eyes gleaming hopefully. Kuei couldn't help but take a half-step back from that copper-skinned hand as a surge of anxiety reared its ugly head within him. He'd never considered himself a shy person—but then, he'd never had an opportunity to find out.

"I'm not much of a dancer," he said. But Amaris wasn't any more deterred by that excuse than Basam had been.

"Aww, c'mon. Just one," she said sweetly. Kuei glanced back at Zafirah, who shrugged and tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

"What am I, your mother? Go, have fun! I'll be over there," she said, pointing to Hayat and Amir. She walked off, and Kuei turned back to Amaris, standing there with her hand outstretched expectantly. _Well,_ he thought, _there's a lovely young woman asking me to dance with her. Am I really going to disappoint her? _He squared his shoulders, took a breath to steady his nerves, and took her hand. Her grin spread even more.

Amaris seized his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip and all but dragged him over to the rest of the dancers. Nervousness gnawed at his stomach, but the woman's smile was oddly heartening. At the very least, she most likely wouldn't laugh at him if he made a fool of himself.

"Okay, this is how it's done. This is one of the simpler dances we have, so you should pick it up pretty quick. Just follow my lead," Amaris said confidently as she began to move. Kuei did his best to mirror her stances: side-step to the right, then towards each other, crossing the left foot over the right, arms in constant graceful motion. He felt like a lumbering oaf next to the nimble Sandbender, but she never once let her encouraging smile slip into scorn or mockery. They circled each other twice, spun so they were back-to-back, then twisted back to face one another.

As he spun away from her again, he caught a glimpse of Zafirah dancing with Hayat and Amir. Her wide smile lit up her face, like it had after her duel with Qamar on their first night with the tribe. She whirled in a circle, and his eyes followed the movement of her long braid as it whipped around her. He didn't realize that he'd forgotten the steps to his own dance until he bumped into Amaris.

"I guess you weren't kidding about not being much of a dancer," she teased lightly. "It's too bad you're leaving—I could give you some dancing lessons." The corners of her mouth curled upward, and something clicked in Kuei's mind. He was suddenly amazed at how oblivious he'd been; but then, he hadn't had any previous experience with flirting.

It was flattering, really, to have attracted the attention of a woman like Amaris. She was very pretty and quite charming, and he'd seen for himself that she cared deeply about her friends and family. And yet…

Amaris waved her fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Hello? You still here?" she joked. Kuei blushed as he realized he was neglecting his dance partner.

"How rude of me! I'm sorry," he said, mortified by his thoughtlessness.

"No worries," she replied. "Something's distracting you, and I think I can guess what… or who." Her mouth twisted into a wistful grimace. "Between you and me," and here she leaned in conspiratorially, "I don't think I'm the one you wanna be dancing with right now." He felt a pang of guilt as he realized she was right. And then something else clicked in his mind, and there was the truth of the matter—he wanted to be dancing with Zafirah instead.

Kuei sighed, choosing his next words carefully. "Amaris, it's not that I don't enjoy your company. It's just that, well…"

"You like her better than me," she finished for him. "Hey, don't worry about it. I was just flirting some; it's not like I was lookin' for a husband," she teased, laughing. He felt somewhat better, knowing she wasn't upset. She stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his cheek, making his face burn bright red. "That's for good luck. You'll need it!" And then she was gone, leaving him alone with this revelation.

His mouth dry and his pulse hammering, he started scanning the area for Zafirah. Suddenly, it all made sense! Earlier that day, at breakfast, he'd thought to himself that he wasn't ready to leave his newfound friends. And that was true—he would dearly miss Basam and the rest—but it was much more basic than that.

_I'm not ready to say goodbye to Zafirah! _How could he not have seen it? No, he knew how: The Fire Nation had been first and foremost on his mind since his arrival in the desert. Their presence in his thoughts had been so strong as to push everything else to the background; it had blinded him to his growing attraction to Zafirah. His immediate reaction was a sense of urgency. He had to find her, had to tell her! _I'll ask her to dance, and then I'll say what needs to be said._ He beamed, pleased with his plan, and set off through the crowd.

Finally he spotted her, dancing with a little girl who looked no older than six or seven. He paused for a moment, taking in the endearing picture they made. The child giggled as she tried to keep up with Zafirah.

Once again, he found his eyes drawn to the Sandbender woman's long braid, swaying across her slender back as she danced. _All right, this is it. I'll simply go over and say, "Might I borrow Zafirah for a moment?"_ He took two steps towards them…

_Oh Spirits—what if she doesn't feel the same about me?_ The thought stopped him cold. His stomach churned with a sudden bout of nerves. This was a problem he'd never dealt with before. His enthusiasm deflated, he retreated to the edge of the crowd and sat down, his head in his hands. _I'm a coward. I fought against the Fire Nation, but I can't ask the woman I admire to dance with me?_

He looked up at the sound of footsteps. Four children stood in front of him, all grinning from ear to ear. The eldest looked to be around eleven years old, and the youngest around six.

"Er, hello," he said cautiously.

"Hi, Mister Kuei!" they chorused. The eldest one held out a small waterskin.

"You thirsty? We got you some water," he said brightly.

"Yes, actually, I am quite thirsty. Thank you," he said. The child placed the skin on the ground and nudged it over with his toe, as if offering it to a wild animal. All four skittered backwards as he reached forward to take the waterskin. He uncorked it and took a sip, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. The water was different from the usual rations; it tasted fresher, cleaner somehow, and it had a faint sweetness to it.

"Thank you," Kuei said again, smiling. "It's delicious."

"You're welcome," they chimed. They ran off, giggling. He stared after them, perplexed by their behavior. He shrugged it off and finished the contents of the waterskin.

* * *

It was getting late, but the party wasn't slowing down much. Zafirah was, though, and her eyelids were starting to feel heavy. She was just about to head back to the glider tent when Hayat came bounding up to her.

"Hey," Zafirah said.

"Hey, Zafi," Hayat replied. Zafirah decided she didn't like the dark look on her friend's face.

"Okay, what happened and how bad is it?" she asked.

"Well, uh, somebody gave the tourist some cactus juice."

"_What?_" yelped Zafirah. Hayat just pointed to the right, and she raced off. It didn't take long to find him.

"No, no, Bosco! Your technique is all wrong! You have to go _whoosh!_" She followed the sound of Kuei's voice to a group of about two dozen Sandbenders all huddled together, laughing and cheering. Zafirah scowled and elbowed her way through to the center. Kuei stood at the middle of the circle with a very confused Bosco in front of him. She took one look at Kuei's crazed expression and shook her head. _Yep, he's stoned off his skull on cactus juice._

"Grrf?" Bosco growled.

"Now listen here, I am your _sifu_ and I expect you to pay attention!" Kuei demanded. "Follow my steps, please." He threw himself into a complicated string of flailing kicks, stomps, and arm-waves, finishing up in an utterly ridiculous stance that he clearly imagined to be menacing.

Bosco's only response was a blank stare. Kuei turned away with a dramatic sigh. "My Airbending talents are wasted on such an inattentive pupil!" he wailed. The crowd chuckled and Zafirah felt a flash of irritation. She shoved aside the men on either side of her and strode into the middle of the circle.

"How's the lesson going, Sifu Kuei?" she asked dryly.

"It's just terrible!" he blustered. "Bosco simply will not focus on his—" he broke off with a gasp as he turned to look at her. He gaped at her, eyes wide, and then he started stumbling towards her with his hands outstretched. "You. You! There's… little stars… all around you!"

Somebody behind Zafirah snickered. She swept her hand out to the side, clenched her fist, and the man sank up to his knees in the sand.

"Aww, hey!" the man whined. Zafirah soundly ignored him, eyes still fixed on the stoned tourist. Kuei came at her, arms open wide for a hug. She ducked under his left arm, then grabbed the back of his shirt as he lost his balance, stopping him from pitching face-first into the ground.

"Whoa," he mumbled.

"C'mon, you'd better sleep this off. You'll have a nasty headache tomorrow, but you'll be fine."

"But my lesson!" he protested.

"It can wait till the morning, Sifu. C'mon, sleepy time." She guided him out of the circle, still gripping his shirt and doing her level best to tune out the catcalls behind them.

"Zafirah!" Kuei called as she pulled him along. "Zafirah, I need to tell you something important!"

"Yeah? What is it?" she asked.

His forehead creased into a frown. "I don't remember," he muttered. "But I must tell you what it is!"

"But you just said you don't remember what it was," she pointed out. He kept on going as though he hadn't heard.

"Zafirah! I must tell you something about… something…" He dug in his heels, bringing her to a stop a few feet from the tent. "Really now, stop flying and come back down here so I can talk to you!" Zafirah decided to humor him and turned around.

"Okay, you got my attention," she said. He stepped in close and lifted his hands to her face. A jolt went through her at the touch of his long fingers against her cheeks. "H-hey, what're you—"

"So much light," he murmured. His fingers moved slowly over her features, like a blind man seeing with his hands. _He's not in his right mind, he's not in his right mind,_ she chanted silently, trying to still the nervous fluttering in her stomach. She reached up and grabbed his wrists.

"It's sleep time, remember?" she told him. She grabbed his sleeve and hauled him the last few feet to the tent. He giggled unsteadily behind her. Zafirah pulled back the tent flap and dropped the stoned tourist onto the ground. Kuei started to say something, but she ducked out of the tent again before he could get the words out. Once outside, she took a deep breath and leaned against the side of the glider. "It's just not fair," she muttered.

She wandered off through the camp, gathering her thoughts. There was a faint breeze, light and cool against her still-heated face.

She turned her thoughts away from Kuei for the moment; there was another problem that needed dealing with. _What's going to happen to me and Basam?_ They were still Janan Tribe, even though the Fire Nation had taken their kin. Zafirah made her way back to the middle of the camp, where she found her brother dancing with Dua. The smaller woman spotted Zafirah and tapped Basam's shoulder, gesturing to his twin. Basam caught sight of her and trotted over.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"We gotta talk about something."

"Uh, sure, okay." He waved to Dua. "I'll be back soon, okay?" She nodded and waved back, and then Zafirah grabbed her twin's sleeve and pulled him outside the dwindling collection of dancers. "So what're we talking about?" he asked once she'd stopped pulling him.

"We're planning what's next for us. What's going to happen to us, now that the fight's over?" Zafirah asked.

"Huh, well… Qamar'd probably let us stay here, if we asked," Basam pointed out. "But maybe—"

"—Maybe this isn't where we need to be," Zafirah finished. "Yeah. Remember what Kuei said at dinner, about wanting to fight the Fire Nation? That's how I'm feelin' right now."

"Same," Basam agreed. They sat in silence, and then it hit them. They turned to each other with matching grins stretched ear to ear across their faces.

* * *

Kuei had an absolutely awful headache. He sat at the cooking fire the next morning with a cup of medicinal tea clutched in one hand, his other hand massaging his left temple. _It's far too early to be awake,_ he thought grimly. The sun wasn't even up yet. Zafirah and Basam strode up to the fire looking unaccountably cheerful. Zafirah gripped the ear of a squirming little boy, whom she nudged towards Kuei.

"Good morning, Kuei," she said brightly. "Amrit here has something to say—_don't you?_" The boy scuffled his feet in the sand.

"Sorry for giving you cactus juice, Mister Kuei," he mumbled. Zafirah let go of his ear and Amrit bolted away. The twins sat down, still smiling broadly at Kuei, and filled teacups of their own.

"How's your head?" asked Basam.

"I've felt better," Kuei admitted. He hesitated, embarrassed, before continuing. "And that's not the only thing. It's, well, um… I can't quite recall everything that happened after I drank the cactus juice."

"Yeah, that tends to happen with that stuff. Don't worry, you didn't do anything too bad," Zafirah said. Kuei froze with the teacup halfway to his mouth.

"That's… not very comforting, really," he muttered. "I didn't do anything that, er, offended you—or anyone else?"

Zafirah shrugged. "You tried to teach Bosco some Airbending moves, but, uh, that's about it." Was he imagining things, or did her cheeks look slightly pink?

"Well, I'm glad to hear that I didn't act like a complete hogmonkey," he said as lightly as he could. "Here I was, afraid I'd done something awful, or regrettable. I'd hate to leave you with the wrong impression of me!"

Her lips pressed into a strange smirk. "Yeah, well, I got the right impression now, I think."

"Er, well, that's good," Kuei said, perplexed. Basam cleared his throat and promptly changed the topic.

"So, had any new ideas for what you're gonna do when you're gone?" he asked.

"No, unfortunately," Kuei sighed. "I need to find some advantage I can use, something—" And then, inspiration struck him. He did have an advantage. A memory surfaced, as if from another lifetime. He recalled Sokka standing before him in the throne room of Ba Sing Se, a grim, determined look etched on the teen's face. _That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation… _"The Day of Black Sun," Kuei breathed.

"The what now?" Zafirah echoed, frowning.

"The Day of Black Sun!" Kuei shouted. He jumped to his feet, punching his fist into the air. "There's a solar eclipse coming, a little less than two months from now. Firebenders draw their power from the sun, you remember, right? And in the eclipse, the sun will be blocked out by the moon. And when that happens—"

"The Firebenders lose their Firebending?" Zafirah guessed. She rose to her feet as well.

"Exactly!" Kuei agreed. "They'll be defenseless." Basam laughed and stood up.

"Oh, that's perfect!" he exclaimed. "So, what're we gonna do with this eclipse?"

"Well, I—" It took him a moment to realize what Basam had just said. "We?" he echoed, hardly daring to hope…

"Yep. We want to help," Zafirah told him as she slung an arm across her brother's shoulders.

Kuei opened his mouth to respond, but found himself suddenly speechless. This was more than he could have dreamed of! He had a plan to fight against the Fire Nation, and now he'd have his friends at his side. "I would be honored to accept your help. Thank you," he said warmly.

"So, what's the plan?" Zafirah prompted. Kuei smiled.

"It's quite simple, really. We'll spread word of the eclipse to as many towns as we can, and we'll tell them about our victory here in the desert. The Fire Nation has many towns in the Western Earth Kingdom under their control. I'd imagine that they've started to spread to the east, now that they've taken Ba Sing Se to the north. If people in those towns heard about what's happened here, it might give them the courage to take a stand against the Fire Nation. In other words," he concluded, grinning widely, "We're going to start some rebellions."

Basam whistled under his breath, and Zafirah's grin matched Kuei's own. Whatever had been bothering her before seemed to have vanished.

"I like it," Basam announced. He lifted his teacup. "Here's to rebellion."

"To rebellion!" Zafirah echoed.

"To rebellion," Kuei agreed, raising his cup. At that moment, he felt as though nothing in the world could stand in their way.

* * *

An hour later, the Aqila Tribe assembled at the western edge of the camp. The prisoners had been loaded onto sand-gliders, their arms bound, and the convoy was ready to go.

Shai was waiting for Zafirah as she stepped out of the glider tent with her pack. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Zafirah replied.

"Look, before you go, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was out of line…and yeah, I guess I was a little jealous," he admitted.

"Well hey, at least you own up to it," Zafirah joked. "But no, you're right, we can't trust most outsiders. I think you're wrong about Kuei, but still—me and Basam will be watching each other's backs, don't worry."

Shai chuckled. "Y'know, for his sake, I hope I _am_ wrong about him." Zafirah smiled, then hugged him tightly. Shai wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Good luck, Zafi."

Zafirah rejoined the convoy, saying her goodbyes to her friends as she went. ("Give those Firebenders a few good bruises for me," Hayat told her.) Kuei, Bosco, and Basam were already at the convoy; Dua and Basam held tightly to each other, no words needed. Zafirah knew that her brother had tried to convince Dua to come along, but she'd decided that her tribe needed her more.

Qamar approached the trio and stood before them, looking at each of their faces in turn.

"Zafirah, Basam, I wish you both safe travels. You made the Janan Tribe proud out on that battlefield," she said.

"Thanks, Qamar," the twins said together. Then the chieftain turned to Kuei.

"It was an honor fighting alongside you, outsider," she told him, bowing slightly.

"The honor was all mine, Qamar," Kuei said, bowing in return.

"Best of luck in your mission. And I want you to know this: you'll always have friends in the Aqila Tribe, Kuei of Ba Sing Se."

"Thank you," he said. "I hope that we might meet again someday."

"Till then," Qamar replied, smiling. The three took their positions on one of the gliders, Bosco following them easily this time. The sails billowed as the gliders started moving, and they set off with the rising sun at their backs.

* * *

**And that concludes Part 1 of our story. Up next is Part 2, the eclipse and the comet. And after that… well, you'll see!**

**Playlist post has been updated: **

**http : / / www. journalfen. net/ users/ ayala_atreides/ 48650. html**


	10. Chapter 8

**I am so sorry for the delay! I hit serious, serious writer's block. And more bad news: I don't know if any of you were keeping up with the playlist, but I've had to remove all the videos that I made from Youtube. One of them got busted for copyright violation, and they'd have deleted my whole account if another one got busted. I'm trying to think of a way to fix this. From now on, I'll probably have to just link to videos already on Youtube. I'll be going back through previous chapters and editing the links as needed.**

**The other reason for the delay: I was drawing Halloween fanart! Here it is. http : / / skeleton-horse. deviantart. com/ art/ Happy-Halloween-184554562 ?q=sort%3Atime+gallery%3Askeleton-horse&qo=0**

**This is a short, introspective chapter. Sort of a bridge between the desert and the next step of the trio's journey. I'm still dealing with some writer's block, as well as some personal issues, but I wanted to get this part posted. Thanks as always to quantumreality and Kitty East for their help, and my readers for their patience. I know I don't update as often as many writers here, but I ask that you stick with me and continue to follow Kuei's journey. I have some cool things planned for our Earth King, and I hope they will be worth the wait!**

**And I forgot to mention this before, but quantumreality is an author here! He posts under the name Hahukum Konn and writes for Harry Potter and the Hunger Games Trilogy, among other things.**

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* * *

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**CHAPTER EIGHT—IDENTITY CRISIS**

At the edge of the Si Wong, the sand dunes leveled out; the soft, shifting sand gave way to dry, hard-packed soil. Thin blades of grass jutted up through cracks in the dirt, dotting the landscape with green.

The Fire Nation prisoners milled about uneasily as the convoy crew unloaded them from the gliders. With the last one finally on the ground, the crew leader gave them all a contemptuous glare.

"Go on, get outta here!" he barked. Four of the crew sent crests of sand at the prisoners and they scattered, darting off into the grasslands beyond the desert's edge.

Kuei and Bosco stood and looked out over the merchant's road they'd be following. Kuei smiled to himself. As much as he'd miss the Aqila Tribe, he was excited to be on the move again—he had a mission to carry out now, and he was looking forward to all the new places it might take him.

Of course, it helped that he'd have good company along the way. His smile widened even more as he looked back towards Zafirah and Basam. The twins were saying their goodbyes to the convoy crew. After a last round of hugs and well-wishes, the twins stepped back and the crews took their posts. The gliders turned and sailed off into the open desert once more, and the twins shouldered their packs and walked over to Kuei and his bear. They pulled down their face coverings and took in the road ahead of them.

"So, this is it," Basam commented, squinting into the distance. "Off to see the world and fight Firebenders."

"Yes indeed," Kuei agreed cheerily. His friends didn't seem to share his enthusiasm, and he felt his heart sink. Were they regretting their decision already? "What's the matter?" he asked. The two exchanged uncertain glances.

"Well, uh… it's just that, we've never been outside the desert before," Zafirah said, fiddling with the strap of her pack.

"It's all we've ever known," Basam added. He shrugged one shoulder and glanced up at the sky.

"Ah," Kuei murmured. Now there was a feeling he knew quite well. "If it's any consolation, I understand what it's like," he offered. "I'd spent my whole life in Ba Sing Se. Before the coup, I didn't even know how to use spark rocks. I'd certainly never slept outdoors." He shook his head sheepishly.

Zafirah shot an amused look at her brother. "Y'know, somehow, that doesn't surprise me," she commented lightly. Then she hoisted her pack higher up on her shoulders and strode past Kuei, towards the road. "All right then, where're we headed?"

"Er, sorry?" Kuei asked, blinking in surprise.

"You're the guy with the plan and the map," Basam pointed out.

"Right, of course," Kuei muttered. He slung his pack to the ground and rummaged through it to find his map. "Well, ah, we could… hmm. Um…" He scanned the map quickly. _I didn't think this far ahead! _He felt Zafirah's stare fixed on him.

"You have no idea, do you?" she asked bemusedly. "He has no idea," she added to her brother, who choked back a laugh. Flustered, Kuei folded the map up and stuffed it back into his bag.

"I say we forget the map for now!" he proclaimed. "Let's see where the road takes us, shall we?"

"Ha, works for me! I like the way you think, Kuei," Basam announced. He started off down the road, scratching behind Bosco's ear as he passed by the bear.

Zafirah followed her brother, smirking at Kuei. "Keep up the quick thinking, and maybe we'll actually have a plan by the day of the eclipse," she quipped.

"One can only hope," Kuei agreed dryly.

* * *

After half a day's walking, the weedy grasslands at the desert's edge gave way to stunted bushes. The twisted, dry shrubs got taller and stronger as they went; by nightfall, their little group reached the forest.

Zafirah wasn't sure how she felt about the forest. The shadowy trees loomed out of the dark with those grabby-looking branches. They reached out to snag her clothes and up to block out the stars. Leaves crunched and crackled under her feet, so different from the soft sand she knew. It just seemed so _cramped_ next to the wide-open desert.

She didn't get much sleep that night. The Spirits-be-damned trees were full of odd noises, and the ground was much too hard under her thin sleeping blanket. Then the morning came, and all that changed as soon as she opened her eyes.

She stood up slowly, half wondering if she was still asleep. Careful not to wake her sleeping companions, she picked her way over to the edge of the clearing they'd set up camp in the night before. Zafirah sat down, still moving slow, and plucked one of the bright purple blossoms around her feet. She sometimes saw them in the Oasis, sprouting up in weak little clusters wherever they could find shade.

But this many? All growing in one place? Nope. She lifted it to her nose and took a long sniff.

"Flowers," she murmured, grinning widely.

* * *

_Two days out from the desert's edge…_

"We're lost."

"We are not lost, Zafirah."

"Okay, then where are we?"

"Ah, um…"

"See? Lost."

"Well, if you would just give me a chance to consult the map—"

"Oh, will you two quit it?" Basam groaned. "I still have a stomachache from those berries last night. I don't need a headache to go with it!"

"I did tell you not to eat those," Kuei pointed out.

"Yeah, _after _I already ate a bunch," Basam grumbled. Zafirah rolled her eyes and looked around, taking stock of their situation. A surge of glee edged through her annoyance and she bit back a smile. _Trees! Lovely trees! _The thrill of seeing them still hadn't worn off.

They'd gone off the road that morning to find food—between the three of them and Bosco, the little food they'd brought from the Aqila Tribe had vanished fast. When they'd turned back to find the road again… well, all those trees looked exactly the same to Zafirah and Basam. And Kuei the city boy hadn't been much help, either.

They pressed on through the forest with Kuei and his map in the lead. She wouldn't have admitted it, but Zafirah didn't mind being lost in the forest all that much. Everything was so _green_ here! She tilted her head back, feeling the sunlight on her face as it trailed down through the leaves.

"Hey, listen to that," Basam said suddenly. Kuei paused and tilted his head to the side.

"Yes, I hear it," he said.

"Hear what?" asked Zafirah, still busy with her trees. Then she heard it, too—a soft, steady, rushing noise.

"It sounds like flowing water," Kuei commented. He veered to the left and cut through a clump of bushes. Zafirah glanced at her brother, and they shrugged at each other. They were already lost, so why not? Bosco followed behind the three of them, growling in protest as he trundled through the thick shrubs.

It didn't take long to find the source of the sound. They broke through a line of trees and into another clearing, bigger than the one they'd slept in. A wide stream wound its way into the clearing from their left. In the middle of the clearing, it swirled into a wide, glassy pond. Its calm surface gleamed in the sunlight, rippling just slightly.

Basam let out a low whistle. "Wow," he commented. "Now there's something you don't get back home!" Kuei smiled and made a sound of agreement.

"I think this would be a nice place to stop and rest for a while," he said. He looked sideways at Zafirah, his forehead creasing into a small frown when she didn't answer. All she could do was grin at him. "What is it?" he asked.

"I am _so_ glad we decided to come with you," she announced. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting in that water."

* * *

"Hey, Kuei," Zafirah called lazily.

"Yes?" he called back. The Sandbender trailed her fingers through the gently rippling water by the edge of the pond.

"How'd you know about this Day of Black Sun thing, anyway?" she asked. She lifted her hand from the water and watched the little droplets falling from her fingertips.

"Yeah," Basam chimed in. "We didn't even know there was gonna be an eclipse this summer—and we definitely didn't know an eclipse could take Firebending away."

Kuei looked back and forth between his traveling companions: they were both sitting in the sunlight, drying out their wet clothes from wading in the pond. Zafirah sat reclining against a rock by the bank of the pond; Basam lay stretched out on the ground with his lower legs in the water and his fingers laced behind his head. The sun gleamed faintly off of Zafirah's wet hair, hanging in thick tendrils around her face.

_Spirits, they still don't know who I am!_ he realized. He knew about the eclipse because he was the Earth King, and the Avatar had come to request military support for an invasion of the Fire Nation capitol. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what to say.

"The Avatar told me. In Ba Sing Se," he blurted. "I know you think I invented the story to fool Ghashiun at the oasis, Zafirah, but I really did meet him while he was in the city," he added quickly.

The corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk that made Kuei's palms sweat a little. "What, and he just told you all about it over tea and hotcakes?" she teased.

"He… he wanted people to know. So they could prepare for it," Kuei said.

"So how did the Avatar find out about it?" Basam asked. "Some kinda Spirit World thing?"

Kuei laughed sheepishly, remembering the siblings' tales about Professor Zei. "Well, actually… he and his friends found the information in Wan Shi Tong's library in the desert." The twins gaped at him.

"No way! Seriously? You mean Zei was actually right about that place?" Basam exclaimed.

"Apparently so," Kuei agreed. He glanced up at the sky, eager to steer the conversation away from his past. "We ought to move on, I think."

"Aww," Zafirah sighed, sweeping her hand through the water again. "It's so nice here, though!"

"There will be other ponds," Kuei assured her with a smile. She rose with another dramatic sigh and sauntered past him, taking care to flick droplets of water from her hair onto his head.

"All right then, let's get going," she said.

* * *

_I should tell them the truth. _Zafirah and Basam were his friends now, his traveling companions. Surely it was wrong to keep his identity from them? He glanced over at them, walking alongside him on the road (which they had finally found again).

He'd had his reasons for withholding his identity at the beginning, on that first night in the Misty Palms Oasis: he was supposed to be traveling incognito. He'd set out to see the world through the eyes of a humble man, after all. Telling them that he was the Earth King would have defeated the purpose of being there.

Then the Fire Nation attacked the Oasis and the three of them had set out on their task of warning the other tribes. And like the eclipse, the matter of his identity had slipped his mind. It hadn't even occurred to him to tell Qamar and the rest of the Aqila Tribe his true identity.

Still, upon reflection, he supposed that telling Qamar really wouldn't have done any good. He was in exile, a king stripped of his power. And a powerless king was just a man with a fancy title. Titles couldn't provide troops or supplies, things that might make a difference on the battlefield. He'd come to the Aqila Tribe with nothing but the shirt on his back, and even that had been borrowed.

But now here he was, out on the road with Zafirah and Basam. They were out of danger for the moment, and the eclipse was still a month away. And when the Day of Black Sun came, Avatar Aang might—

_Aang!_ Kuei winced at the memory of the boy's limp body in Katara's arms, his round face ashen grey. The Avatar had still been unconscious when Kuei had left the group. He recalled that Sokka had plans for a small-scale invasion of the Fire Nation capitol; but what if Aang didn't recover in time?

Kuei wasn't sure what a lightning strike would do to the human body, but he had to assume that the damage would be extensive. He'd seen the look on Katara's face after one of her healing sessons—the anguish on her face had been heartbreaking. What if Aang was still too weak to fight when the eclipse came?

What if he never woke up?

It was an awful thought, but he had to consider the possibility. And if that happened… the Fire Nation would win the war. Which meant Ba Sing Se would stay firmly under the Fire Lord's rule… and Kuei's exile would become permanent.

_But even if Aang does recover in time for the eclipse, and even if he defeats the Fire Lord, I'm still in exile right now. I'm still just a man with a fancy, useless title, _Kuei told himself.

A sharp jab in his right upper arm shook him from his musings. He looked over to see Zafirah frowning at him, her brow furrowed and her head tilted ever so slightly.

"Hey, you still with us?" she asked.

"Of course," he assured her. She nodded, grinned briefly, then trotted on ahead. _This is my task now,_ Kuei thought as he watched her go. _I have to put these worries out of my head for the time being. All I can do is prepare for the eclipse. For now, I'm just another Earth Kingdom man doing his best to fight the Fire Nation. If the Avatar succeeds and Ba Sing Se is liberated… well, I'll deal with that matter when I come to it. But for now, I'm just Kuei._

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**No playlist this time. I'm busy sorting out this mess with Youtube. :( **


	11. Chapter 9

**I know, I know. It's been ages! Remember the writer's block I mentioned in the AN for Ch8? It got worse. Much, much worse. Basically, from Thanksgiving until about a week ago, I was in a "creative drought". It was like the writerly part of my brain just dried up. I'm posting this short Chapter 9 partially to get the ball rolling again, and partly to inform the few people still reading this fic of why I haven't updated since November. **

**I'm doing my best to get this story moving again, so hopefully a longer chapter will be forthcoming. Also, in the meantime, I've been writing some TRON fanfic (the original movie, not TRON: Legacy). So you can go and give that a read if you're a TRON fan. :D  
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**CHAPTER NINE—ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK**

It was morning in the forest, and Kuei had his nose buried in the map again. He was frowning at it like it had just tried to bite him. He sighed and leaned back against Bosco's furry flank. The bear growled and Kuei absently reached back to scratch the animal's ear.

Basam rolled up his sleeping blanket and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He looked around and gave a satisfied nod. He had to admit, he could definitely get used to waking up to these trees. There was just this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something was off, somehow… He shook it off for the moment.

"Morning," he called over to the other man.

"Good morning, Basam," Kuei said distractedly. "Oh, by the way, Zafirah asked me to tell you that she, er, had some things to take care of and that she'll return soon."

"Things? Did she say what kind of things?" the Sandbender asked. Kuei's frown deepened.

"She didn't, but she looked quite agitated. Do you think she's all right? Perhaps we should go check on her—"

"Kuei, relax. If it was something really serious, she'd have told us. If she says she'll be back soon, she'll be back soon," Basam said. He'd seen his twin get in these moods before; all she needed was some time alone to deal with whatever it was.

"Well… all right, if you say so," Kuei said. He shot a nervous look off into the trees to the right, and then turned back to his map. Basam walked across the campsite and peered down at the parchment.

"What're you up to?" Basam asked.

"I'm trying to work out the number of towns we can reach before the day of the eclipse. I thought that we'd want to reach the last town at least four or five days prior to the Day of Black Sun itself, so the townspeople will have at least a little time to prepare," Kuei explained.

"And the eclipse is a month away, right?"

"Less than that, actually."

"Doesn't give us much time," Basam pointed out.

"No, it doesn't," Kuei agreed grimly. Basam tugged the map out of the other man's hands for a closer look. He tapped his foot against the soil and scowled. That feeling had just come back stronger than before. _Something is seriously not right here…_ he thought, digging his toes into the dirt.

"What's this thing here supposed to be?" Basam asked. He pointed to a spot on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. Kuei squinted at it, then nodded.

"Ah, that's the symbol for a military base," he said.

"Military base? Huh," the Sandbender muttered.

"Are you getting any ideas?" Kuei asked hopefully. Basam rubbed the back of his neck and considered.

"Maybe we should go there, instead of a bunch of villages. I mean, we can visit some villages too, but… what we want is to tell as many people about the eclipse as we can, right?"

"That's true."

"Well, the folks at that base could send messages about it to other bases around the Kingdom—and they could probably spread that knowledge around faster than we could."

"A fair point," Kuei agreed. He thought about it for a moment and smiled. "I think it's an excellent idea." Basam grinned back.

Just then, Zafirah came crashing through the bushes behind Bosco. The look on her face wasn't promising. "Uh oh," Basam murmured.

"'Uh oh'?" Kuei echoed. He jumped to his feet and stared worriedly at Zafirah. "What's going on?"

"I need to borrow my brother for a minute," she said darkly. "My Bending's broken, and I'd bet my last copper piece his is too." Basam sucked in a breath between his teeth. Suddenly, that strange feeling made sense. Out in the desert, Basam had always felt… rooted, somehow. He felt connected to the sand. The further they got from the desert, though, the more it seemed like something was missing. And that something was his Sandbending.

Kuei reeled back, stunned. "Wha—broken? How is that even… what happened?" he spluttered.

"I think I might know," Basam said quietly. "See, Sandbenders can't Bend rock like regular Earthbenders. They're pretty different kinds of Bending."

"Yeah. Sand is more like water than rock. It flows and shifts," Zafirah added. She sighed and jabbed at the dirt with her toes. "Try it," she told her brother.

Basam took a stance and swept his arms back and forth, just like he would on a sand glider. Clumps of soil flew sluggishly into the air and plopped to the ground a few feet in front of him. It was even worse than Bending while drunk. He straightened up and flexed his fists, trying to hide his feeling of alarm.

"Oh, Spirits, this is bad," he muttered.

"Way to make an understatement," his sister grumbled.

"What will you do now?" Kuei asked. "Do you think there's any way to, I don't know, get used to Bending soil instead of sand?"

"We'll have to," Zafirah said. She rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead, and Basam noticed something odd: Kuei's eyes followed the movement, and they seemed to hang on her for a moment. Then he dropped his gaze, grabbed the map from Basam and started fiddling with it again. If his sister noticed, she didn't show it at all.

_Well, that's interesting,_ Basam thought. He'd learned long ago not to interfere when it came to his sister and men, so he'd keep quiet for now and see what happened. Zafirah leaned over the map.

"I think I heard you guys sayin' something about the military?" she asked.

"It was your brother's idea," Kuei said brightly. "He thought it would be more efficient to take our information about the eclipse to the nearest military base."

"Sounds good to me. Of course, lookin' at this map, we'll be pretty pressed for time if we try to make it there on foot," she pointed out.

"Good point," Basam agreed. "Maybe we'll find someone traveling that way by cart, and we can hitch a ride."

"However we get there, we ought to get back on the road," Kuei said.

"Yeah. Whatever we're gonna do about this Bending problem, we'll have to figure it out along the way… and hope we have it settled by the eclipse," Zafirah said.


	12. Chapter 10

**Okay guys, let's talk about this fic for a minute. You'll notice that my updates have been even slower than normal, and that the last two chapters were very short and basic. The truth is, my inspiration crashed around mid-November and due to issues in my personal life, it has taken me until now to really get it back. Writing for the TRON fandom has helped a bit, as well as my desire to keep this story alive and not abandon it. I sincerely want to finish telling this story. I have great things planned for these characters and I want to see them happen. **

**You will notice that this chapter begins with a time-skip of one week. You may also notice some summarizing happening at the start of the chapter. This was the only way to get this fic moving again. The chapter title refers to more than just the story—I lost momentum during Chapter 8 and had lots of trouble getting the ball rolling again. In order for that to happen, I needed to jump ahead a little. **

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**CHAPTER 10—MOMENTUM**

_One week later… _

The wooden cart rattled to a halt outside of Akato Village. Its three passengers clambered out of the back to stand next to the bear ambling along beside it. Kuei glanced around, taking in the lush trees bordering the road and the clean smell of the air. It was a pleasant spring evening and he couldn't help but feel optimistic. Zafirah walked up to the seat at the front of the cart and placed a few silver coins next to its driver.

"Thanks again, Mr. Liu," Zafirah said.

"You're welcome. I hope you find that cousin you're looking for," Liu said amiably.

"Yeah, sure," she agreed. Liu clucked to his ostrich horses and the cart rolled off down the road. Kuei smiled at his map, and then at his companions.

"Well, here we are. The base is just under three miles to the west," he said. Bosco growled quietly next to him, and he reached down to scratch behind the bear's ear.

"And we made good time getting here, too," Basam agreed. "Now all we gotta do is get in to see the general."

"I don't think that will be too hard," Kuei said. "Why shouldn't he see us? We're Earth Kingdom citizens with important information for him." Zafirah sighed and slung an arm around his shoulders. His heartbeat spiked at her sudden closeness.

"Now where would we be without that boundless optimism of yours, huh?" she said lightly. "C'mon, boys, we got a job to do!" She grabbed up her knapsack and started off down the road. For a moment, his eyes followed that light step of hers. He shook himself mentally and turned to adjust the packs strapped to Bosco's back. _Focus on the task at hand, _he told himself. _Focus on the mission, not on the way she walks… or the way her hips move as she walks…_

…_Spirits damn it all._ To make matters worse, Basam jostled past him with a knowing smirk. Kuei sighed and slung his own pack over his shoulders.

The three walked on and passed half an hour in idle chatter, occasionally lapsing into an easy silence.

"Hey," Basam said suddenly, breaking one such silence.

"Yeah?" Zafirah replied.

"I just had a thought. What if the Fire Nation got here before us?" he asked. Kuei froze in mid-step. Bosco let out a worried grumble and nudged Kuei's hand.

"I hadn't even thought of that," he muttered. "The Fire Nation has control of the capitol now. That means they control the highest ranks of the military." He chewed his lower lip, thinking. "They may not have reached this base yet. And that makes our task even more urgent." They pressed on, quickening their pace.

It was a nice walk, at least. Mountains reared up through the trees in the distance, going from pale tan to dark and shadowed as the last light of dusk faded away. And if he was reading the map right…

Kuei smiled over at his companions. "So, I take it you two have never seen the sea before?" he asked.

"Clever guess," Basam commented dryly. "Why do you ask?" Kuei's smile just widened. An hour later, the trees bordering the road started to thin out a little. Kuei breathed deeply, enjoying the sharp smell of salt. He could hear the surge of surf against the rocks already. The forest opened up onto a cliff just ahead and Kuei could see the road narrow and hook around to the right. And there, beyond the cliff's edge, lay the ocean.

The twins picked up their pace even more, dashing over to stand by the edge. Bosco trotted after them and Kuei followed, smiling widely. He came to stand between the two Sandbenders and glanced sideways at each. They both gaped at the sight before them with matching looks of awe.

"Welcome to the sea," Kuei said, a little smugly. There was no helping it, really.

It really was an impressive view. The light from the rising moon glittered off the crests of the ink-black waves. Stretching all the way out to the horizon, it was like there was no boundary between the dark sea and sky. There was a light breeze rising up, tugging at their clothes.

"This is amazing!" Basam exclaimed, flinging his arms wide and laughing. He ran his hands over the top of his head, smoothing back strands of hair that the breeze had blown loose from his ponytail. "It just—it goes on forever! I never even imagined anything like this!"

"Neither could I," Kuei said, "I'd never seen the ocean either until I left Ba Sing Se." He glanced at Zafirah, eager to see her reaction. She stood perfectly still with one hand pressed to her mouth. Bosco whined and licked her other hand, hanging loosely at her side.

"It's… beautiful," she breathed. Then her face split in the biggest grin he'd ever seen. She threw her head back and cupped her hands around her mouth. "It's unbelievable!" she hollered, then paused to listen to the echo. She punched her fists in the air and took a couple skipping steps back, laughing giddily. She whirled around to face Kuei, her eyes shining. "I never, ever thought I'd get to see the ocean, not in a hundred years!" she gushed. She beamed at him for a long moment, and then turned back towards the sea.

He just smiled at her, suddenly at a loss for words. The moon cast a silvery light over her face and lit up the enthusiasm in her eyes. Kuei was struck, then, with the urge to kiss her. He just wanted to pull her into his arms, hold her tight and kiss her. He swallowed hard and looked glanced back at the ocean.

They stood there for a few more minutes, then turned away and followed the road off to the right. It ran right along the clifftop, letting the twins admire the view some more. Zafirah was walking sideways at one point, prompting a laugh from Kuei.

There were guard towers along the coastal road, built right into the edge of the cliff. Kuei didn't give them a second thought, though, until a bell clanged out from one of them. The four of them froze, startled.

"Halt! State your name and purpose for traveling on this road!" shouted a voice from the tower.

"We're Earth Kingdom citizens!" Kuei shouted back. "We wish to speak to the commanding officer at this military base." A guard emerged from the tower, and Kuei felt his blood run cold. Basam and Zafirah both swore loudly behind him. He was a soldier, all right, but not of the Earth Kingdom. He was a Firebender. "Oh no," Kuei whispered. They were too late, after all.

A rustling sound came from the trees behind them, and they turned to see two riders on komodo rhinos emerging. Bosco growled low in his throat, his hackles rising. Kuei placed his hand atop the bear's head.

"We have to stand down," he murmured to his companions. "We can't beat them, not with your Sandbending out of commission."

"No way," Basam snapped, raising his fists.

"Kuei's right," Zafirah said quietly. "They've got us outmatched." The three of them lifted their hands in surrender. The guard took a few more steps towards them and narrowed his eyes at Kuei. Then a wide, unpleasant grin stretched across his face.

"Take 'em to the base!" he shouted to the two riders. "The captain'll want to see this." The sentry went to fetch three lengths of rope from the tower. The riders advanced on the trio, their fists raised for Firebending, backing them towards the cliff and cutting off any chance they had of making a run for it. The sentry bound three travelers' hands behind their backs and muzzled Bosco, then sent them off down the road with the rhino riders at their backs.

Kuei heard the sound of whispering next to him as he walked. He looked over and saw the siblings conversing about something, their heads together. Zafirah nodded at something Basam said and turned to Kuei.

"Hey," she whispered to him. "What's going on here? That guard was acting like he recognized you from somewhere."

"No talking," snapped one of the rhino riders. Zafirah fell silent, but her eyes remained on Kuei for a moment longer. She looked puzzled, and even a little suspicious.

They reached the base quickly. The Fire Nation banner hanging above the gateway sent a chill down Kuei's spine. And as the heavy stone gate closed behind them, his shoulders slumped in defeat. How in the world were they going to get out of this? The riders handed the prisoners over to a trio of soldiers armed with sharp spears. The three men advanced on Kuei and his companions with their weapons raised.

"Move," the shortest of the three commanded. The soldiers marched the four of them across the parade grounds and into the tower in the center of the base. They paused just inside the entrance. "Take the animal," the soldier said to another guard standing at the doorway.

"Don't hurt him!" Kuei shouted, panic flooding through him.

"Shut up, you," the soldier snarled. The guard took hold of the rope tied around the bear's neck. Bosco made a mournful sound as Kuei was marched past him towards a set of wide stairs leading down beneath the tower. He looked back over his shoulder as the soldier herded them down the stairs. Zafirah bumped her shoulder against his upper arm, drawing his attention.

"Sorry," she mouthed, nudging him with her shoulder again. He just nodded stiffly, unwilling to think about what might happen to his beloved pet.

They halted before a heavy iron door at the bottom of the stairs. The air was colder down here, and it had a damp feel to it. The soldier at the front unlocked the door, swinging it inward with a screech of rusty hinges. It was a jail, Kuei realized. Two rows of five cells each stretched out on either side of the windowless room, which was lit only by glowing green crystals in brackets on the walls. The cells were more like cages, really, with metal bars forming the walls, and the floors and ceiling were covered in metal plating.

The soldiers took Kuei's Water Tribe club and the siblings' daggers, and then untied their bindings and shoved them roughly into three empty cells side by side. Zafirah was in the cell to Kuei's right, and Basam was in the cell to the right of hers. Then two of the soldiers departed, leaving the third to stand guard over them. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, overwhelmed by what had just transpired.

"I can't believe this," Basam murmured suddenly. Zafirah reached through the bars of her cell and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. She glanced over at Kuei with the same speculative gaze as before; he knew she was mulling over the sentry's words, wondering what he'd meant by them. He felt a sharp pang of guilt as he looked back into those warm brown eyes.

_She and her brother are here because of me,_ he thought. _That sentry did recognize me, and that's why he arrested us. It's my fault. I should have known that the Fire Nation would be looking for me. I should have—_

The door creaked open again. The guard snapped to attention as a tall, solemn-faced Firebender entered the jail. He carried himself like a true warrior: back straight as a jian sword; chin held level, not lowered in deference or lifted high in haughtiness; eyes clear and calculating. He studied each of the three prisoners with a cold, dispassionate gaze. When he came to Kuei, his eyebrows lifted almost imperceptibly. That was his only outward reaction.

"You may go, soldier," he said to the guard, his eyes never leaving Kuei's face. A deep sense of foreboding welled up in the pit of his stomach at that stony gaze. The guard bowed and left. The Firebender slowly paced back and forth in front of the three cells. "I am Captain Hideki," he said smoothly. "And you three… well, what an interesting bunch you are."

"Your life must be pretty boring if three wanderers getting arrested is the highlight of your day," Basam retorted with a derisive grin.

"Ah, but you're not just any wanderers. We have quite the mix here," he observed. "The lowest commoners and the highest nobility. Sand rats and royalty. There's something almost poetic about it." Kuei's heart sank.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Zafirah spat.

"You got yourself confused, fire-brain," Basam snorted. "There's no royalty here." The Firebender paused in his pacing and cocked his head.

"More and more interesting by the moment," he murmured. He turned back to Kuei. "I do have to wonder what someone such as yourself is doing in the company of such scum. Are they your bodyguards?" Zafirah let out an inarticulate, outraged noise. Hideki shook his head. "No, I suppose not. So why, then, are you traveling with these savages? Surely whatever charms they may possess are far outweighed by the threat of their criminal nature."

"They are my friends," Kuei snapped through gritted teeth. He ventured a sideways glance at Zafirah, and the rage on her face was really quite terrifying to behold. Next to her, Basam sat with his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned a bloodless white. _This Captain Hideki should consider himself lucky that those iron bars are there,_ Kuei thought with grim amusement.

Hideki continued on, unaffected. "Although, it does make a certain amount of sense," he mused. "Earth is such a primitive element, after all. Not quite as barbaric as Water, but still quite rough around the edges. I suppose it makes sense that you, having been stripped of your crown, would descend to the same depths as the Sandbender savages."

"Crown?" Zafirah echoed. "Okay, you are clearly one bird short of a flock, mister."

"So he hasn't told you, then? You really don't know?" Hideki asked her. She just stared contemptuously at him. The captain turned back to Kuei and spoke again, his voice clear as a bell. "Are you, or are you not, the Earth King of Ba Sing Se?"

Kuei squeezed his eyes shut, his head dropping down towards his chest. Everything seemed to freeze around him. He felt his companions' gazes on him like a physical force. He opened his mouth, trying to force the words out, but they wouldn't come. He waited in agonized stillness for something—anything—to happen.

And then, Zafirah laughed. "Hah! Oh boy, do _you_ have the wrong man," she chortled, shaking her head. Kuei let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Basam snickered, obviously trying to restrain himself, but then he too let out a great, whooping laugh.

"No offense, Kuei," he gasped, "But you gotta admit, it's pretty funny!" But Hideki just kept watching Kuei, waiting for an answer. So Kuei gave him one.

"I am," he said, surprised at how calm he sounded. Those two words cut through the twins' laughter like a blade, plunging the jail into silence once again. "How did you know?" he asked. Hideki pulled a scroll of parchment from the back of his belt and unfurled it for the three of them to see. It was a wanted poster offering a substantial reward for the capture of the fugitive called Kuei. It didn't name him as the Earth King, but it did feature a picture of his face, glasses and all.

"Now hold on," Zafirah protested. "Fire Nation wanted posters always get posted at the Misty Palms Oasis, and we never saw one of those."

"Of course you haven't," Hideki said levelly. "Princess Azula decreed that these posters were only to be given to commanding officers in Earth Kingdom garrisons. It wouldn't do to let the people of this land know that their king is alive and wandering freely among them."

"Naturally," Kuei said quietly. "It might give them hope."

"Exactly right," Hideki agreed. "One doesn't win wars by giving the unwashed masses a symbol to rally around." Kuei clenched his teeth and clenched his fists behind his back, tugging against the rope. Some symbol he'd have made, anyway!

He chanced a look over at Zafirah, almost afraid of what he'd find. Her wide eyes were fixed on the scroll. Her lips parted as if she were about to speak, but no sound emerged. She looked back at him with something unreadable in her eyes; he could see her throat working beneath her now tensed jaw. She broke his gaze and turned that hard stare at the ground. He leaned forward and looked past her to Basam, who seemed confused and startled. While his sister's gaze had been closed, as if there was a wall behind her eyes, Basam's was probing and open. But he could guess that they were both wondering the same thing.

Hideki nodded once and replaced the scroll. "In the morning, the three of you will be transferred to our prison facility," he said. "There you will be kept until arrangements can be made to transport His Highness back to the homeland." Hideki spoke Kuei's title with the faintest hint of a sneer.

"What about us?" Basam asked. "We're nobodies, you said so yourself. Why keep us here?"

"True, but you've been aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive. You share his guilt," Hideki said. And with that, he turned on his heel and left the jail. The guard didn't resume his post; instead, he just closed and locked the door, leaving Kuei and the two Sandbenders on their own.

* * *

Kuei sat against the back wall of the cell, eyes fixed on the metal floor in front of him. He didn't dare look at the Sandbenders in the two cells adjacent to his. It had been at least an hour since Hideki had left, but none of them had said a word to each other. He could see Zafirah pacing from the corner of his eye, though. She stopped after a while and grabbed the bars between their cells.

"So you've been lying to us this whole time," she snapped. "You've been with us for, what, almost a month now? Living with us, sharing our food, our water, fighting alongside us—and you never thought to tell us who you really were?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Basam asked. The Sandbender rubbed absently at his wrists where the ropes had dug into his skin. "Did you think we'd, I dunno, hold you for ransom or something?"

"No, no, of course not!" Kuei said quickly. "At first I didn't say anything because I wanted to travel as a common man. And then, with all the chaos of the Fire Nation attacking the oasis, and everything that happened after, I suppose I just… forgot about it."

"You forgot?" Basam echoed. "You forgot about being the Earth King?"

"No, that's not what I meant. It simply didn't seem all that important, compared to everything else that was happening. It just never seemed like the right time to bring it up. Especially since there was nothing I could have offered along with it—no troops, no supplies, nothing of use."

Zafirah snorted. "You realize how stupid that sounds, right?" she demanded.

"I do now," he said miserably. Zafirah started pacing again, both hands pressed to her face.

"I just don't understand it. How could you think that keeping this a secret was a good idea? You're not just some wanderer, you're the _Earth King_! That makes us, what, your _subjects_?" She sneered the last word.

"No! I could never think of you that way," Kuei insisted.

"It doesn't matter what you think of us, that's just how it is," Zafirah muttered. Kuei hung his head.

"I'm so sorry—" he started.

"Don't. I'm not in the mood to hear it," she growled. She sat down against the bars, her back to him. Basam looked sadly at him from his cell.

"I just wish you'd told us," he said. "We wouldn't have treated you any different." Then he, too, turned away.

Kuei felt a stab of pain as he glanced over at Zafirah's hunched shoulders. _Well, I couldn't have messed this up any worse if I'd tried. I lied to the only friends I have, and now they don't trust me anymore. Tomorrow we're going to be imprisoned, and then I'll be taken away to the Fire Nation…so I may never get a chance to make it up to them,_ he thought wretchedly. His mind went back to the celebration on the night after the battle, when he'd first acknowledged his growing attraction to Zafirah. The memory only made him feel worse. _If I ever had a chance of winning her affection, it's surely gone now._

* * *

It was getting late, but Zafirah could hardly keep her eyes shut. She shifted uncomfortably against the iron bars digging into her back. She ended up sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, arms folded over the tops of her kneecaps.

_Shai was right, you can't trust outsiders,_ she thought darkly. _If he lied about this, what else is he lying about? What does he really want from us? _It certainly cast a new light on the past few weeks. She found herself remembering his first night in the desert—the night he'd saved her life. Now it looked even more absurd. It was an utterly ridiculous notion: the Earth King saving the life of a Sandbender! There had to be another angle. He had to want something from them. Outsiders always did, and she had to imagine that that went double for royalty.

_But maybe he's telling the truth about everything else. _It wasn't easy to think of Kuei as a dishonest man. In the weeks she'd known him, he'd been nothing but polite and helpful. He'd worked just as hard as anyone else, ate the same pitiful rations they did, and slept in the dirt just like the rest of them, all without ever complaining. He didn't seem to have a mean or malicious bone in his entire body.

And speaking of that long, lean body of his, there was one more problem. _Spirits and ancestors, I've got a crush on the Earth King. This is awful!_ Zafirah buried her face against her arms, hoping Basam wasn't awake in the next cell to notice her blush.

She felt like the world's biggest fool. With everything that had happened, and with how close they'd gotten over the last few weeks, she'd started to wonder if there was potential for something to happen between the two of them. She'd even started to think that maybe he liked her a little. But knowing this, well, it changed everything. She was a sand rat and he was the Earth King. _Not that it matters, since the Fire Nation's gonna lock us up for the rest of our days,_ she thought darkly. She hugged her arms tighter around her knees.

Still, looking back, there were plenty of things that made more sense now. Before the battle in the desert, he'd said that there were people relying on him in Ba Sing Se, and that he'd let them down by fleeing. He'd told her that he wanted to redeem himself for this failure by fighting the Fire Nation with the Aqila Tribe. He hadn't been talking about family or friends, she realized. He was talking about the entire population of Ba Sing Se. He was trying to redeem himself for the fall of the capitol.

All the little pieces were falling into place now: his high-class manner, the funny accent, his vagueness about his past, the pet bear, all those things he knew about the Avatar and the eclipse.

_Riddle solved,_ Zafirah thought bitterly. She curled up on the floor of the cell and shut her eyes, trying to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, when Kuei awoke, the first thing he noticed was the tension in the room. The siblings were already awake. Basam sent an uneasy glance his way, and then suddenly became very interested in adjusting his arm wraps. Zafirah was standing at the back of her cell, leaning against the filthy stone wall and staring the floor; she'd spared him one glance when he first woke up, and the distrust in her pretty eyes seemed to cut right into him. Kuei stared miserably down at his hands. There had been plenty of silences in his weeks with the siblings: walking along absorbed in their own thoughts; quiet moments during meals; contemplative pauses in conversations around the campfire. But this was the first time he'd felt so acutely uncomfortable in their presence. He shifted nervously.

A different guard came by with bowls of grayish rice porridge. He slid them carelessly through slots at the bottoms of the cell doors.

"You got five minutes to eat," he barked. Kuei glanced dubiously at the bowl, then picked it up and started in on the gruel. He was glad for a distraction from the unbearable quietness.

After the paltry meal, more guards came down to the dungeon. They came into Kuei's cell first—one with metal handcuffs, and two with spears to discourage him from struggling. They bound his hands tightly behind his back and led him from the cell. Zafirah was next, and then Basam. With the trio cuffed and secured, the guards marched them up to the main floor of the tower and out onto the parade grounds.

"What have you done with my bear?" Kuei asked, turning to the nearest guard. He wasn't expecting an answer—in fact, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted one. But he had to ask, anyway.

"Captain Hikari's decided to keep it till his next trip to the homeland. He said it'll make a fine pet for the Fire Lord," the guard sneered. Kuei's heart sank at the thought of Bosco in the Fire Lord's hands. _At least he's alive,_ Kuei told himself. _Hopefully I'll see you aboard the ship to the Fire Nation, dear friend._

A group of eight guards led them to a smaller gate at the rear of the base. A pair of rhino riders joined the guards, one at each end of the group. Two sentries opened the gate, and the procession moved out onto a narrow road through the forest that surrounded the base.

It was a nice day, with a clear blue sky and birds fluttering among the branches, but Kuei hardly noticed it. He stared at the ground, mostly, trying to keep his eyes off of the twins walking just ahead of him. He rolled his shoulders, trying in vain to alleviate the ache starting in his back from having his arms twisted behind him. He gritted his teeth in frustration, then gave up the effort.

It was strange, the twists and turns his life had been taking lately. First came the fall of Ba Sing Se and the Avatar's defeat, bringing him the greatest despair he'd ever known; then he'd traveled to the desert and met the twins, and in their company he was truly content for the first time since that horrible night. Then the Fire Nation attack came, and once again he'd watched helplessly as Ozai's forces subjugated Earth Kingdom citizens. He'd set off into the desert with Zafirah and Basam after that, intent on helping them in whatever way he could. And when they reached the Aqila Tribe, Qamar was there with her bold plans of striking back against the Fire Nation. Her words had inspired courage in him, and their victory had made his spirit soar with hope. The Sandbenders had demonstrated their power, and opened Kuei's eyes to the possibility of fighting back. They had given him the strength to make this plan regarding the eclipse. And this is what he'd gotten for the effort, on his way to a Fire Nation prison and then to the Fire Lord himself.

The Fire Nation had taken everything—from him, from his friends, from the people of Ba Sing Se, from everyone in the Earth Kingdom… from everyone in the world. They had the entire world beaten down in despair. He'd been oblivious to it until the Avatar had shown him the truth, but now he saw it all so clearly. They'd been taking and destroying for a hundred years now, and they'd just keep doing it until there was nothing left. And anyone who stood up to them would just get crushed. He'd seen it at the fall of the capitol, and the situation had just seemed so hopeless.

And then something new started to build in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't hopelessness this time; it was sharper, hotter. He clenched his fists, wrists pulling against the rough metal cuffs. No, he wasn't despairing anymore.

He was _angry._ He was angrier than he'd ever been. His hands shook with it, his face flushing red from it. And the worst part was, he couldn't do anything about it. His hands were bound with metal, and his only weapon was gone. There was no point in trying to escape, or attack the soldiers. They couldn't afford to kill him for it, but they could certainly make him suffer. But there was a story he remembered from the legends of the Earth Kingdom. An innocent man had been condemned to death by an evil king, and he'd taken the one act of defiance left to him: he'd sung a song of freedom. Kuei had been so impressed by the story that he'd immediately gone and memorized the song.

_I can't stop them from imprisoning me,_ he thought. _But I don't have to keep quiet about it. _Buoyed by anger, he felt a sudden rush of boldness. He'd probably still be made to suffer for such a display of defiance, but it would be worth it. He lifted his head and straightened his back, taking a moment to remember all the words. He took a deep breath and started singing. It wasn't a very poetic moment; that much was certain. He'd never been much of a singer and he was badly off-key. He hardly cared, though.

"What do you think you're doing? Shut up!" the guard behind Kuei snarled. He just sang louder. Basam glanced back at Kuei over his shoulder, looking utterly baffled.

"What are you doing?" he mouthed. Zafirah was still facing forward, but Kuei could see a change in her posture; her tensed shoulders seemed to drop a little, and she tilted her head slightly, as though listening.

The guards were getting irritated now. "What is that racket?" shouted the rider at the head of the group. He called a halt, dismounted from his rhino, and started to walk back towards Kuei, sporting a deep scowl made all the more intimidating by the shadows from his helmet.

Just then, Basam turned towards Kuei and joined in on the song. He shot the Sandbender an astonished look, and the other man just shrugged. And then, even more remarkably, Zafirah turned around and raised her voice along with theirs. She stared at Kuei with an inscrutable expression as she sang.

It was a beautiful song: it spoke of mountains, and the enduring strength of rock, lasting beyond all of humanity's struggles and toils. It spoke of the stones underlying all of mankind's cities, and how they were the same beneath the feet of kings and peasants alike. The stone beneath them spanned all countries and all people; even the thick ice of the North and South Poles had rock beneath it. Kuei could see why it annoyed the soldiers so much.

"Stop that!" the lead rider bellowed. He drew back his fist to Firebend at them. Kuei shut his eyes-

Something whizzed past his ear, and then there was a metallic clang. Kuei opened his eyes again just in time to see the soldier drop to the ground, a sizeable dent in the side of his helmet. The remaining seven guards all tensed and glanced around for the source of the attack. No one moved for a very long moment, and then all chaos broke loose on the road.

"Fire at will!" came a voice from the trees, and a volley of arrows soared into the air. Kuei gasped and dropped to the ground, along with the twins, as the arrows flew over their heads. Three guards fell, but the rest blocked the volley with Firebending.

A swarm of riders astride ostrich-horses flooded out of the forest, surrounded by gray-and-green-clad figures on foot. All of them wore dark cloth covering their faces from the eyes down. The air filled with shouts and whoops and the crash of metal on metal. Kuei stayed where he was, kneeling on the ground, quite certain that he didn't want to get involved in this while so defenseless. He looked over at the siblings, crouching next to him and wearing identical expressions of shock.

"What in the Spirit World is going on?" Zafirah shrieked over the din.

"I wish I knew!" Kuei shouted back. One of the masked figures ran over—a woman, judging by her build—and dropped down next to him. She whipped out a knife seemingly from nowhere and Kuei suddenly wondered whose side these people were on. "Wait, hold on—" he spluttered. But the woman ignored him and deftly picked the lock on his metal cuffs, and then picked the siblings' cuffs as well. With the three of them freed, she spared one last glance at the trio.

"Run," she told them. Without a moment's hesitation, Kuei grabbed the siblings' sleeves and scrambled to his feet, pulling the two with him. The three of them tore off into the woods at full tilt, heading northwest and away from the base.

Kuei couldn't have said how much time they spent running, but soon his legs were aching and he was gasping for breath. The thunderous sounds of pursuit nearly sent him into a panic, but then he recognized the two-beat cadence of an ostrich-horse's gait. He paused and looked back, just in time to see one of the creatures bearing down on him. Its rider pulled it up short alongside him, the creature tossing its head and snorting in impatience. The rider leaned over and stretched a gloved hand down to him.

"Get on," said a masculine voice. He grabbed the man's hand and scrambled clumsily onto the animal's back. He saw Zafirah doing the same from the corner of his eye. Around them he saw the rest of the dark-clad group. "Riders, we'll go on ahead. Ground team, you keep our tracks clear," barked the stranger sitting in front of Kuei. He turned the ostrich-horse and dug his heels into its sides. Kuei grabbed hold of the man's waist and hung on for dear life as the animal took off deeper into the forest.

Their path twisted and turned through the trees, racing up into the mountains that extended out on all sides around the base. Finally, after what seemed like hours of riding, the ostrich-horse slowed and came to a halt outside of an unassuming-looking cave. Kuei slid off the mount's back and landed on wobbly legs. The rider made a tsk-ing sound and dismounted with embarrassing ease.

"Sorry for the rough treatment, but it was the only shot we had," he said breezily. Well, that answered absolutely none of the dozens of questions flying through Kuei's mind. The corners of the stranger's eyes crinkled above his face mask. He saw a thin, jagged scar cutting across the exposed skin, starting on his forehead and crossing the bridge of his nose before disappearing under the mask. "I'd go see to your lady friend, there, if I were you," the man added, nodding past Kuei. He turned, saw Zafirah looking around in confusion, and walked over to her.

"D'you see Basam anywhere?" she asked distractedly. Kuei scanned the group of dark-clad people, but nowhere did he see the tan of the Sandbender's clothing. He walked back over to the man he'd rode with, but Zafirah pushed past him and beat him to it.

"Hey, excuse me," she said, "But there was a third person with us—a man, dressed like me but a little taller. Who's got him?" The scar-faced stranger pulled down his mask to reveal a solemn frown.

"I'm sorry, but he fell behind. The Firebenders grabbed him before we could," he said gravely. The blood seemed to freeze in Kuei's veins, but the horror he felt was nothing compared to the anguish that twisted Zafirah's face.

Basam was still in the hands of the Fire Nation.


	13. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN—BREAKDOWN**

For a long moment, Zafirah felt numb. Then the stillness shattered and she spun around, racing back to the ostrich horses. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage like it was about to burst. She got to the nearest animal, her fingers closing around its reins before the scarred man came to his senses.

"Grab her!" he shouted. She felt hands lock around her upper arms. She didn't see who had her. She could hardly even see the ostrich-horse in front of her. All she saw were images of her brother—wasting away in a Fire Nation jail all alone, or run through with a soldier's spear in the mad dash through the forest, or burned to a crisp—

"Let me go! _Let me go!_" she screamed, thrashing against the iron-like grips holding her back. Zafirah saw a foot from the corner of her eye and stomped viciously on it. The hand on her left arm loosened and she tore free of it, feeling her right shoulder wrench as she pulled away from the other one. She made it all of two steps before she was caught again. It took three men to keep her still.

"There's nothing we can do," said the scarred man from somewhere behind her. "We can't risk going back there. Not now."

"Then I'll go by myself, coward!" Zafirah snarled.

"I can't let you do that. We need the ostrich horse," he said.

"You don't get it, I have to go back!" Tears were filling her eyes now, leaving hot trails as they spilled down her cheeks. "_I can't leave him there! _He's my brother, he's all I have left!" she choked out.

A familiar voice cut reached her ears. "Zafirah…" She jerked her head up and saw Kuei edging towards her.

"You stay out of this," she snapped. He drew back as if she'd burned him. She struggled to break loose again, but the fight had gone out of her. She sagged against the hands holding her in place as she broke down and wept. The three guys let go of her, knowing she wasn't going anywhere.

"Do something about her, please," she heard the scar-faced man say. His voice sounded distant, somehow, as if he were standing behind a wall.

"I don't think she wants me to—" Kuei began.

"Well, that's too bad for you, but you're going to have to do it anyway. I don't have time to babysit a hysterical woman. Daiyu will show you where to go." She heard Kuei sigh, and then the sound of dirt crunching underfoot as he walked over to her. He gingerly reached out to place a hand on her arm, but she twisted out of his reach. She wrapped her arms tightly around her torso, as if she could squeeze the pain out of herself. Zafirah vaguely heard a female voice telling her and Kuei to come along; she followed Kuei and the unknown woman into the cave beside the path, her head down, barely able to see through the tears.

* * *

Basam woke up to a roaring headache and a dull pain in his abdomen. He groaned and opened his eyes. At first, all he saw was disorienting darkness. His eyes adjusted slowly and details started to emerge: metal plating under his head, icy cold against his cheek; metal bars in front of him; a glowing crystal set into a holder on the wall beyond the bars. He heard a tiny squeaking sound somewhere close by.

The memories came back then. He remembered the long walk from the base to the Fire Nation prison, the attack, and—

"Zafi!" he gasped. He pushed himself up on his elbows, then winced in pain and fell back onto the floor. Where was his sister? Had she gotten away in the forest? And where was Kuei? What had happened to him? He shut his eyes, taking stock of the situation. At the very least, he knew he must be in the Fire Nation prison.

Basam had fallen behind in the forest after tripping on a tree root. The Fire Nation soldiers had caught up to him and he'd fought them, or tried to, anyway. Was he hurt? He reached up and felt the back of his head, where the pain was the worst. His fingers found a bump there, the hair around it matted and sticky with drying blood. And then there was his stomach; had he been cut, or stabbed? He carefully ran his hand over his abdomen to find out. His shirt was dry and undamaged, but the area underneath it was sore. So he was bruised, but there was no blood and no broken ribs. And speaking of his shirt, he noticed that they'd left him with his own clothes. No doubt they'd searched him for weapons, though.

He sat up again, nice and slow this time, grimacing in pain. Once he was up, he shuffled on his knees over to the door of the cell. It was like the one back at the base, but the bars were thicker. He grabbed ahold of them and peered out into the dimly lit hallway. Like the other prison, this one had a row of cells lining one side of the long room, only there were a lot more of them.

"You're awake," said a raspy voice. He looked up at the cell to the right of his and saw a figure emerging from the gloom within. Thin, worn-looking hands curled around the bars between their cells as a face came into view—a woman, maybe in her fifties. It was hard to tell, though. "I saw them bring you in here," she continued.

"Did they bring anyone else in? A brown-haired woman around my age, or a thin, pale man?" Basam asked. Worry twisted in his stomach. _Please, Spirits, let them be okay…_

"No, as far as I know you're the only new prisoner they've had today," she said.

Basam heaved a sigh of relief, then winced again as his bruised abdomen throbbed. "Thank the Spirits, they're still free," he breathed. But then a horrible thought struck him—what if that wasn't the reason they weren't here with him? What if they _hadn't _gotten away? The thought chilled his blood but he pushed it out. _I can't let myself think that way! There's nothing to say that anything bad's happened to them, _he thought desperately. "I'm Basam," he told the woman, forcing his voice to stay level.

"My name is Linh," the woman said. She studied him for a moment. "Are you from the desert, young man?"

"Yeah," he said, watching her for a reaction, but she just nodded.

"There's no sand for you to Bend here, I'm afraid," Linh said. "The guards keep the floors washed, so that bits of dirt won't accumulate. There are many Earthbenders here, you know."

"Are you one of them?" Basam asked. Linh smiled faintly.

"No," she said. The guards came by with bowls of food then, and Basam was surprised to see that it wasn't the same gruel they'd gotten at the base. It was rice with some kind of meat in it. Basam's stomach growled as he eyed the bowl warily.

He wanted to refuse it; he'd wanted to refuse the gruel back at the base, too. He didn't want anything from the Fire Nation. It wasn't like he was afraid of going hungry—he was a Sandbender, and Sandbenders knew how to deal with hunger. But they also knew how to scrounge and save every little scrap of food, no matter how meager. And as evil as the Fire Nation was, he couldn't bring himself to waste food. He picked up the bowl and ate it all.

* * *

Daiyu was a short, stocky woman with a keen eye and an air of confidence that put Kuei at ease. She greeted him with a nod and cast a sympathetic look at Zafirah.

"C'mon, I'll get the two of you settled," she told them. Without any further words, she led the two of them away. Or rather, she led Kuei, while Zafirah stumbled along behind him. She seemed to have retreated into herself, weeping quietly as they walked along. Kuei's chest constricted in sorrow as he glanced back at her. If the situation had been bad before, it was ten times worse now. Basam was gone, his status unknown, and Zafirah was broken by his loss. And Kuei couldn't help but feel as though the whole thing were somehow his own fault.

He forced himself not to dwell on the pain, and instead busied himself with observing the crowd they'd fallen in with. The dark-clad group was filing into the cave behind the three of them. Some members of the group were in the cave already, undoubtedly having come in while he and Zafirah were still outside on the mountain path. Some led the ostrich-horses along, while others gathered crates and sacks that lined the left-hand side of the cavern. Kuei guessed that they were supplies.

Moving with the rest of the group, the three of them passed through the cave and exited into a tunnel through a rough-hewn doorway at the back. No one spoke as they walked down the tunnel. The only sounds that penetrated the dark space were the grunting of ostrich-horses and the faint shuffling of boots and bare feet against stone. His own breathing sounded excessively loud in his ears.

The tunnel opened up into bright sunlight. Kuei blinked in surprise, taking in the sight before him. The tunnel brought them out into the bottom of a deep valley, heavily forested and swarming with activity. He saw tents set up everywhere, people doing laundry or cooking, others sparring or just sitting and talking. Steep mountains surrounded the valley on all sides; looking over his shoulder, Kuei saw a high peak extending up above the cliff where the tunnel emerged. He instinctively looked over at Zafirah for her reaction, but she didn't even appear to notice any of it. Her gaze was turned inward, her face twisted in pain, still consumed in a private world of her own grief.

Daiyu spoke suddenly, making him jump. "That tunnel's the only easy way into this valley," she said with a hint of pride in her voice. The rest of the group was emerging from the tunnel behind them now, walking around the three of them and making their way into the camp.

"Where are we, exactly?" Kuei asked wearily.

"Safe from the Fire Nation," Daiyu said. "I'll tell you more later. For now, let's get you and your friend set up here." She guided them through the bustling camp and eventually came to an empty tent. She walked up to it and pulled the flap back, but Kuei hesitated. How was it that they just so happened to have an empty tent there?

"You were expecting us, weren't you?" he asked. Daiyu nodded.

"We have our spies in Hideki's ranks," she explained. "I'll go and fetch some food for the both of you. Wait for me here." She turned and threaded her way through the crowded camp. Kuei ducked into the tent, Zafirah following behind him. The tent had been set up for three people, Kuei noticed with a pang of sadness. There were three sleeping bags piled up in one corner. Zafirah took one of them and laid it out along the back wall, then settled down onto it and curled up like a wounded cat.

"Zafirah," he started, his voice quiet. He had to at least _try_ to reach out to her. Despite everything that had happened since the night before, he couldn't stand the thought of her suffering in silence by herself.

"Just leave me alone, please," she murmured. She curled further in upon herself, her body quivering.

He turned and left the tent, suddenly feeling as though he were intruding upon a very personal moment. He too felt the pain of Basam's disappearance, as he considered the Sandbender to be his friend, but he knew it just wasn't the same as what Zafirah was going through.

Daiyu was waiting for him outside the tent, with a covered pot, some bowls, and a tea kettle sitting over a cooking fire. "Where's the girl?" she asked.

"I think she'd like some rest," Kuei said quietly. Daiyu nodded and set the pot down, lifting the lid. The smell of roast duck wafted out. He sat down next to her and accepted the bowl and chopsticks she handed to him.

"As you've probably guessed by now," she began as she spooned rice and roast duck into the bowl, "We are rebels fighting against the Fire Nation invaders. Some of us are ex-soldiers from the Earth Kingdom army; some, like me, were just ordinary citizens who got swept up in the war. I'm Daiyu, as you know. The man with the scar is our leader. His name is Quan. We're part of a larger resistance movement within the Kingdom. Our group in particular has existed in one form or another for decades, but we just came to this valley six months ago. As I said, we have our spies among Hideki's soldiers, and that's how we knew to expect the convoy. And as for you… well, as I said, we have our ways of gaining information. It's an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

Kuei winced. "Please don't call me that. Technically it isn't even my title anymore. Since you have your spies, you should also know that I'm in exile. I've been stripped of my crown." _And I'm surprised that you call it an honor. Ba Sing Se belongs to the Fire Nation because of me,_ he added inwardly.

"If you insist," Daiyu said as she ladled a portion of food into a second bowl. "And what about her?" She nodded back towards the tent. "And the brother she spoke of back at the road?"

"Their names are Zafirah and Basam. They're Sandbenders, I met them at the Misty Palms Oasis." Kuei noticed that Daiyu frowned a little at the mention of the siblings' origins, but if she had anything to say on the subject, she kept it to herself—a decision for which Kuei was very grateful. He lifted his chopsticks and ate a slice of duck. It was delicious, and certainly a nice change of pace from the dried meat the Sandbender tribes had. Daiyu stood and ducked inside the tent with the second bowl in hand. Kuei heard her say something to Zafirah in a hushed voice, and then she returned without the bowl.

"And now, the biggest question: what in the Spirit World were the three of you doing hanging around an occupied military base?" she asked as she sat down again.

"Well, in our defense, we thought it was still under Earth Kingdom control. We had some important information to give to the general; we thought it could help in the war effort," Kuei said unhappily. He looked up at Daiyu, his mind working quickly. "Perhaps it still can," he murmured. "In less than a month's time, there will be a solar eclipse. The sun will be blocked for a span of about eight minutes, and during that time, all Firebenders will be completely defenseless. With the sun's light blocked by the moon, their Firebending will stop working."

Daiyu sat back, her eyes wide, and let out a slow breath. "I'll be damned," she whispered. She shot to her feet. "Come with me. We need to relay this information to Quan right away!"

"But what about Zafirah? Should we bring her?" Kuei asked, looking back at the tent.

"Let her rest, she'll be fine. Now come on!"

* * *

It was sunset, or at least Basam thought it might be. The only window nearby was a narrow slit in the wall across the hallway, and keeping track of time was already getting tough. Basam had never been this confined before. And he'd never been so cut off from his element. Even in the cramped basement that had been his family's home, there'd still been walls of earth surrounding him. And even out in the woods, he'd still been in the open wilderness. But here, everything was metal. And just like Linh said, the floors were spotlessly clean. He felt the absence of his element like a physical loss. He'd had a feeling like this out in the forest, when he and Zafirah had discovered that their Sandbending didn't work, but this was so much worse. It was like waking up to find someone had lopped off one of his ears. He felt off-balance.

More time went by, though he wasn't sure how much. He passed the time walking the perimeter of his cell, stopping whenever the ache from his bruises got to be too much. And all the while, he wondered where his sister and friend were. He and Zafirah had never been apart. Losing her hurt even worse than losing his element.

Night fell and it was starting to get cold in there. It had been chilly before, but not like this. Basam sat down against the back of the cell, hugged his arms around himself and shivered. He wasn't as used to cold as he was to hunger. Nights in the desert got cold sometimes, especially in winter, but he usually had blankets to help with that.

A tiny glow from the cell next to his got his attention. He looked up and his jaw dropped at what he saw. He could just make out the shape of Linh, sitting huddled against the back of her cell. She held her cupped hands up by her face, and nestled within her palms was a little ball of fire. Its light reflected off the faint smile curling the corners of her mouth. Basam scooted over to the door of his cell, staring through the bars.

"You're a Firebender," he breathed. He hadn't even realized he'd spoken aloud until Linh glanced up at him. Her smile grew a little.

"Yes," she said simply. "Does that bother you?"

"N-no," Basam said quickly, embarrassed. "It's just that, heh… this is the closest I've been to a Firebender that wasn't trying to roast me alive." He watched the tiny fireball flicker and dance in Linh's hands. It was sort of pretty, actually.

"I suspect most Earth Kingdom subjects would say the same, unfortunately," Linh said, sadness in her voice.

"What're you in here for?" he asked.

"Disobeying orders," she told him, frowing a bit. "I used to be a soldier. My garrison was stationed in an occupied Earth Kingdom village. But the more time I spent around the people of the village, the more I started to question whether we'd done the right thing in taking over their home. And the more I wondered about that, the more I started to doubt the war. One day, a higher-ranking officer told me to brand a boy who'd been caught stealing food. He couldn't have been any older than twelve or thirteen. The officer said I was to make an example of the child, to deter other thieves. I refused."

"Wow, I—that's… That's quite a story," Basam said, stunned. "I mean, no offense, but you don't really hear about Fire Nation soldiers abandoning the cause that often."

"No," Linh agreed. "The army suppresses news about dissention and deserters as much as they can. It's better that they present a totally unified front to their enemies."

"Yeah, I guess so," Basam murmured.

"And what about you? What brought you here?"

"I was aiding and abetting a known fugitive," Basam said. He wrinkled his nose as he repeated Captain Hideki's words. "Of course, I didn't know he was a fugitive at the time. He, uh…" Basam paused, wondering how much he should tell her. He figured it couldn't do much harm to tell her the truth, even if someone else overheard them. "See, my sister found this guy in the cantina back home, at the Misty Palms Oasis. He didn't look like anything special, really, but I guess she just felt like helping him out…"

He told her the whole story, keeping his voice to a whisper the entire time just to be safe. While he talked, anxiousness tugged at his gut. Where was Zafirah now? Was she okay? When he'd finished, Linh sat deep in thought.

"A solar eclipse," she murmured. "There are legends in my homeland regarding the last solar eclipse… but the Fire Lord likes to keep _that_ information suppressed as well, of course. Still, the people refer to it in whispers as the darkest day in our history."

Eventually, Linh drifted off to sleep. Basam laid down on the cold floor, but all he could do was stare at the metal ceiling. Then he remembered something and reached for one of the pockets in his pants. It was his prayer stone—the last time he'd used it was during the sandstorm in the desert, after leaving the Oasis. His father had carved it for him out of a piece of stone from Si Wong Rock itself. It was a tradition among Sandbenders for fathers to carve them for their children. They were generally carved with symbols for good luck or prosperity, or with prayers to the Spirits. He knew Zafirah still carried hers, even if she never used it.

For a terrible moment, he thought that the guards had found it while searching him for hidden weapons, but then his fingers brushed against the smooth leather pouch. He let out a relieved breath. But then he felt something else against his fingers, too, something rough. It felt like… sand! He sat upright and looked around to make sure no one was watching. His heart pounded with hope. When you lived in the desert, it was just a fact of life that everything you owned was going to be full of sand—your hair, your food, and especially your clothes. Sand got in everywhere, and that went double for pockets! He flicked his wrist and drew his hand from his pocket, and a thin stream of sand followed his fingertips.

He formed the sand into a ball, staring at it in wonder. He had sand! He pulled the leather totem pouch from his pocket and tugged it open with his teeth, and then carefully Bended the precious grains into it. He went to his three other pockets next and found even more sand! It went into the pouch as well. He went over every inch of himself, pulling sand from his hair and the crevices of his arm and leg wrappings. He Bended out every grain he could find embedded in his shirt and pants. When he was done, he clutched the pouch to his chest happily.

This wasn't just a connection to his element: he had a weapon now. A small one, but it could still be useful. And he would keep it carefully guarded until the day of the eclipse. He rubbed the sides of the totem through the pouch, inwardly reciting the prayer inscribed on it, thanking the Spirits for watching over him and praying they'd watch over his sister as well.

* * *

_**Four weeks until the Day of Black Sun…**_

The shrill sound of a whistle roused Kuei and Zafirah from their sleep the next morning. He was disoriented at first, until he remembered Daiyu telling him that the camp had a daily wake-up call. He glanced over at Zafirah as he slid out of his sleeping bag, but she kept her eyes averted. He looked away as well. The night before had been painfully uncomfortable for both of them. Or at least, he could only assume that it had been as uncomfortable for Zafirah as it had been for himself. They hadn't spoken a single word to each other since arriving in the rebel camp. She'd shot him a few miserable glances, but mostly she kept to herself.

After telling his story to Daiyu, she'd taken him to see Quan. The scar-faced rebel leader had listened with avid interest as Kuei told him of the battle in the desert; and he'd all but jumped for joy when Kuei repeated his information about the eclipse.

"This is what we've been waiting for!" he'd crowed triumphantly. "For weeks we've been holding out for the perfect opportunity to attack that base, and now we have it!" Then he'd told Kuei to leave, as he had planning to do. Kuei remembered that Quan was going to call a meeting at noon to bring the rest of the rebels in on the plan.

Zafirah maintained her silence as they rolled up their sleeping bags and left the tent.

As Kuei ducked out into the brisk morning air, for just a second, he looked around for Bosco. Then he remembered where the bear was and his chest tightened. He missed his old friend terribly. Then something occurred to him—Hideki had been planning on presenting Bosco to the Fire Lord as spoils of war along with Kuei. But now that Kuei had escaped, would he still follow that plan? What would become of Bosco now? Kuei trudged off to the assembly tent in the middle of the rebel camp, misery settling like an iron weight in his stomach.

The cook's hut was next to the assembly tent. Kuei joined the line of people waiting to go in and get their breakfast. He wasn't especially hungry, but he knew he needed to eat something. He got his portion of food—rice and steamed vegetables—and left the hut. He glanced around for a place to sit. Finally he settled into a spot just outside. A few people sitting nearby glanced over at him, but none of them spoke to him.

As he ate, he looked around at the people surrounding him. They seemed to wear clothes from all three nations—he saw flashes of blue and red amid the usual Earth Kingdom greens and browns. He wondered if there were any Fire Nation citizens among their numbers, or if the clothing had been scavenged. He didn't see anyone wearing the dark clothing of the day before. _They must save that clothing for important missions,_ Kuei told himself. And as for the people themselves, they seemed to range from teenagers to grey-haired adults.

A young man walked up to Kuei as he was finishing his breakfast. He looked to be around seventeen or eighteen, with light brown hair pulled up into the typical topknot of Earth Kingdom men.

"Are you Kuei?" he asked.

"Yes," Kuei said. The young man nodded.

"I'm Shen. You're with me on dish duty after mealtime," he replied. Kuei nodded and stood up, following Shen to the back of the cook hut. They were four other people already there, washing stacks of bowls from breakfast. Kuei and Shen joined them, dunking the bowls in a basin of water and then scrubbing them clean with rags. With that done, Shen sent Kuei off to his next task: laundry.

Soon enough, it was midday and time for the meeting. Kuei made his way to the assembly tent and stood near the back. A glimpse of tan caught his eye, and he looked up to see Zafirah standing two rows in front of him. He wanted so badly to approach her and try to talk to her. It had only been a day, and already the rift between them was becoming unbearable. Perhaps he could, after the meeting…

"All right, listen up, everyone!" Quan called out. Silence settled over the tent as its occupants turned their attention towards the rebel leader, standing on a crate at the front of the cramped space. "Okay. As you all know, we rescued two prisoners from Fire Nation custody yesterday. Well, one of them came forward with some information that will be very good for us… and _very_ bad for our enemies! In about four weeks, there's gonna be a solar eclipse. And while it lasts, the Firebenders will be all out of firepower. It won't last long, but it'll give us the opening we need to take down Hideki and free the prisoners in the jail! They have a lot of good people locked up in there—a lot of _our_ people. That jail was built by our military to hold criminals, and now it's being used to imprison Earth Kingdom citizens who've done nothing more than make a stand for their freedom and their rights. Some of 'em aren't even renegades like us. Some of 'em were just trying to survive. And now they're locked away."

There were a few mutters of agreement from the rebels, but for the most part they remained silent, waiting for their leader to go on.

Quan nodded once before continuing. "The base is our priority. Once we have it, we can free our prisoners. And I've got an idea for how we're going to do it..."

The meeting ended, and Daiyu was waiting at the entrance of the tent as Kuei filed out with the others.

"Quan would like to have a word with you," she told him, gesturing back towards the front of the tent. He walked back over to where the rebel leader stood. Zafirah joined them a moment later, her arms wound around her torso and a deep frown on her face.

"Okay, how much combat experience do the two of you have?" he asked. "I need to figure out where I'm going to put you."

"I have some basic hand-to-hand combat knowledge," Kuei offered, "And I know how to wield a club."

"Sort of," Zafirah muttered. Kuei shot a sideways glance at her, surprised and a little hurt.

"And what about you, hm? You're a Sandbender, right?" Quan prompted. Zafirah nodded. "Well, there won't be a whole lot of sand in this fight. I'm going to hand you over to Daiyu, she'll show you some _real_ Earthbending." Zafirah bristled at his choice of words, but said nothing. "You know anything else?"

"I can use a dagger," she said.

"Good." Then Quan turned to Kuei. "Shen will teach you some more hand-to-hand combat techniques. You can go now—Daiyu will tell you where to go."

As they exited the tent, Kuei turned towards Zafirah. "Why did you say that?" he asked.

"Well it's true, isn't it?" she retorted. "You weren't very good with that thing. Aren't kings supposed to know how to fight?"

"It's, um… the Earth King doesn't traditionally take part in battles," Kuei said quietly.

"That explains a lot," she sneered. She picked up her pace, walking ahead of him and leaving him to stare at her in shock.

* * *

The rock sat in the middle of the rebel camp's dirt training ring. The top of it was just about level with Zafirah's chin. She stared at it, her arms crossed over her chest. Daiyu stood a ways behind her, fists planted on hips.

"Do you know what neutral _jing_ is?" the rebel asked.

"Can't say that I do," Zafirah replied flatly.

"It's a way of directing your energy, and it relates to tactics in combat. Positive _jing_ relates to the attack, and negative _jing_ to the retreat. Neutral _jing_ involves waiting for the opportune moment to strike," Daiyu explained.

"Okay, but how does that help me move a rock?" asked Zafirah.

"It'll help you _fight_ with rocks," Daiyu said, the corners of her mouth twitching upward. "I'd say that's pretty important. Now, get in that stance I showed you." Zafirah slid her feet apart and bent her knees, bringing her fists up to waist level. "Now, do you know anything about chi?"

"Nope, sorry," Zafirah said dryly.

"Chi is energy that flows through the body. It gathers at seven points in the body, called chakras. Four of them are related to the elements, and therefore, to Bending. The Earth chakra is located at the bottom of the spine. That's where the power for Earthbending comes from. Try to feel the energy flowing through you, focus on drawing it from that point."

"How d'you know all this, anyway?" Zafirah asked, shutting her eyes to concentrate on her energy.

"My father was a scholar on the history of the Bending forms. He had all kinds of scrolls lying around. Are you feeling the energy flow?" Daiyu apparently wasn't going to let her stray off-topic.

"I'm trying." Zafirah gritted her teeth, doing her best to reach inside herself and feel this mysterious chi thing.

"Well, you're never going to get anywhere forcing it like that," the rebel said. Zafirah's eyes snapped open, and she turned to glare at the older woman. "Try to strike the boulder. Maybe you'll feel it more easily in motion."

Zafirah eyed the rock, then drew in a deep breath, squared her shoulders, drew back her fists and—"OW!" She reeled back from the rock, shaking her throbbing hands and grimacing. There was a little bit of blood smeared on her knuckles. Daiyu jogged over and gently took hold of her hands, examining them.

"Nothing's broken," she pronounced after a moment. "Try again. Use the flat of your palms this time." Zafirah huffed out an annoyed breath and retook her stance. She pulled her hands back again, palms facing the rock. She thrust them forward against the stone and immediately went flying backwards across the dirt ring. She skidded to a halt at Daiyu's feet, the impact having knocked the wind out of her. The rebel grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. "Try it again."

And she did. She launched herself at the rock again, and again she was hurled back. Zafirah let out a low growl of frustration and darted sideways, charging at the rock from a new angle. It didn't work any better than the last one, though. Her fists thumped uselessly against the rock, bloodying her knuckles even more. This time her frustration came out in an infuriated cry. She lunged over and over again, until she slumped against the boulder, panting and drained of energy.

"I think that's enough for today," Daiyu said softly.

"No! I have to get this right," Zafirah said harshly.

"You're wearing yourself out, girl. It's obvious you're not in the right mind for this today. We can try again tomorrow."

"I have to do this," Zafirah insisted through a clenched jaw. "Stupid thing, why won't it move? Why doesn't it _work_?" She drew back and flung herself against it once more. Daiyu grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back, but Zafirah thrashed against her grip. "Get your hands off me! I have to make this work! You don't get it—I'm useless out here without my Bending! The Fire Nation captured us—they took my brother from me—I can't be _useless_ anymore!" She felt tears of anger well up in her eyes as she thrashed again. Daiyu wrapped her arms around Zafirah's torso, pinning her arms against her sides. Zafirah struggled for a moment and then went slack in the stronger woman's grip, realizing she wasn't getting away.

"Let's go," Daiyu said sternly. "It's time to wash up and get those hands bandaged." She let Daiyu take her away from the training ring. For the second time in two days, she felt a crushing sense of helplessness overwhelm her.

* * *

Kuei's own training session had gone about as well as could be expected. Shen had a very direct manner, but he was a patient teacher despite his brusque style of instruction. Still, he ached all over and he was sure he had some bruises forming.

After the session was over, the two of them had gone to wash off at a small pond just outside the camp. The pond, at the edge of the valley, lay beneath a thin plume of a waterfall that spilled down the mountainside above. A stream came out from the pond and wound its way off through the trees. Shen had explained that bathers usually came here in groups separated by gender. Although there were a few people in the camp who didn't feel entirely comfortable bathing in those groups, for one reason or another, and so often came by themselves or with each other.

By the time they returned to the camp, it was time for dinner. As Kuei exited the cook hut with a bowl of rice and roast duck, he heard Daiyu calling to him.

"Hey, over here!" she said, waving to him. He waved back and walked over, but he stopped a couple of feet away when he saw Zafirah sitting next to the rebel. She glanced up and nodded stiffly to him. He nodded in return and sat down, trying to ignore the stab of disappointment he felt at her reaction. Daiyu glanced back and forth between them and cleared her throat. "So, how was your training today? Was Shen a good teacher?" she asked.

"It was fine, thank you. And yes, he was an excellent teacher. How was the Earthbending training?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Zafirah grumbled.

"All right, fair enough," Kuei replied. The three of them ate in uncomfortable silence for a while. Occasionally, Daiyu would break it with small talk, but the conversations never seemed to last long. As they were finishing their meal, Daiyu spoke up again.

"You look worried, Kuei. What's bothering you?" she asked. He glanced anxiously at Zafirah, and then decided to go with the one topic that seemed relatively safe.

"I'm worried about my animal companion, Bosco," he said. "I raised him from a cub. I'm not sure how he'll fare in the hands of the Fire Nation, I just hope that Hideki—"

A disgusted snort from Zafirah interrupted him. She slammed her empty bowl against the ground. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she growled. "My brother is _gone_—we don't even know if he's alive or dead—and you're worrying about a stupid bear? Unbelievable!" She stood up and stormed off towards the edge of the camp. Daiyu looked at Kuei and raised an eyebrow.

"This is your problem, Your Highness. I'd go and deal with it if I were you," she said. Kuei sighed, knowing she was right, and went after the Sandbender.

"Zafirah, I don't think you're being very fair," Kuei said as he caught up to her. She whirled around to face him.

"Yeah? You've been lying to me for the past month—why should I care what you think?" she demanded.

"Well, we were quite good friends before—" Kuei started.

"Exactly, _before_ you lied to us and _before_ your stupid little _quest_ got me and my brother captured by the Fire Nation! And speaking of that, how do we know the Fire Nation didn't follow you to the Oasis that first night, huh? Maybe it was _you_ they were after, and when they didn't find you, they settled for enslaving my tribe instead!" She jabbed an accusatory finger at him. She snorted again and cast a scrutinizing eye over him. "Look at you—some king you are. You let the enemy take over the capitol, and you can't even fight! You don't act like a king, and you sure don't _look_ like one. I thought kings were supposed to be all strong and imposing—you're just _scrawny_," she sneered.

Kuei gaped at her, sputtering incoherently as a spike of anger rose within him. "All right, that's enough! Stop this, please! You know as well as I do that the Fire Nation came there specifically to attack the tribe. You heard that commander's speech—the Fire Lord wanted all of the Earth Kingdom under his control, including the desert. This isn't helping anything, and your comments are really just uncalled for!"

Zafirah laughed sharply and gave a mocking bow. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, your Royal Highness! What, are you gonna order me to stop? Go on, I know you want to!"

"N-no, I don't want to order you to do anything! I don't even have the power to do that anymore! Ever since I first met you and your brother, I have always seen the three of us as being on equal footing!" he insisted.

"Oh, that's one more thing," she said, her tone suddenly going flat. "I'd stop using phrases like 'the three of us' if I were you. There is no 'three of us' anymore, okay? There's just me and my brother, and then there's _you._" She shook her head contemptuously. "I don't care how much time you spent in the desert, playing at being one of us—"

It was then that Kuei's frayed nerves and growing anger reached their boiling point. "I never wanted to be one of you!" Kuei shouted. "Do you think I asked for any of this? Do you think I wanted to be sent into exile? I was perfectly content in Ba Sing Se. I had everything I needed there! I never wanted to be cast out here into the middle of nowhere!" Zafirah's head snapped back as though he'd struck her. Her brown eyes went wide, burning with anger.

"The middle of nowhere, huh?" she repeated icily. "So that's how you see it? I _knew_ it." And with that, she spun on her heel and retreated back towards the camp. He watched her go. He felt as though he were rooted to the spot. His heart sank, knowing that they had both crossed the line. He suddenly felt more alone than he ever had before.

* * *

**I'm going to be honest and admit that this was a very difficult chapter to write. I'm not a big fan of angst. (No offense to any angst writers reading this—it's nothing personal.) I am a huge fan of happy stories. So this chapter was tough to get through. And it didn't help that I took a break halfway through to work on some prize fics for a DeviantART contest; that sort of threw me off my groove a little. But I have put my all into it, as I always do, and think the end result was worth it. **


	14. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Ready for an unusually quick update? XD I started this chapter while waiting for Ch11 to be betaed, and it was much easier to write than I expected. I wrote eleven pages in a week! One week! That is unheard of for me! Thus I finished it sooner. ^_^**

**A quick note: I've made a change to Quan's speech from Chapter 11, to reflect an adjustment I've made to my plans for the Day of Black Sun chapter. **

**Oh, and check out this amazing fanart that my friend on deviantART drew for me! She is the best ever.**

**http : / / candlehat. deviantart. com /gallery /#/ d3ddelg**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12—PICKING UP THE PIECES**

Quan turned down Zafirah's request to be moved to another tent. He said he didn't see any reason to inconvenience one of his people with a stranger's personal problems. Zafirah knew what would happen if she went back to the tent she'd been sharing with Kuei—they'd both be in for a night of silence even more uncomfortable than the last one; or worse, more arguing. She couldn't stand the thought of that. With all the anger and hurt boiling inside her, she just knew it was a bad idea. So she went right to Daiyu, who let Zafirah into her tent without a moment's hesitation.

"What happened?" Daiyu asked gently. Zafirah opened her mouth, all set to let fly about the argument… and then, she just couldn't. The anger seeped out of her, leaving her exhausted. She shook her head.

"Can I just stay here for the night?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Sure. I only have one sleeping bag, though," Daiyu pointed out.

"Oh. I'll just, uh… go and get mine then," she mumbled. She dragged herself out and forced her feet to move across to her tent, praying to the Spirits that it would be empty.

It wasn't. Kuei's shoulders tensed as she pushed the flap aside. He shot a glance at her; his eyes were red. She froze, mouth half-open, and then recovered herself.

"Just gettin' my sleeping bag," she said under her breath. He nodded jerkily. She grabbed the cloth bundle from the floor and quickly backed out of the tent again. The tent flap dropped back into place, blocking Kuei from her sight. She retreated from the tent, clutching the bag against her chest as her throat tightened. A twinge of regret gnawed at the pit of her stomach, but she clenched her fingers in the soft fabric of the sleeping bag and pushed the feeling down.

_This is his fault,_ she told herself harshly. _Besides, I'm better off without a liar like him… _But that feeling of regret lingered no matter what she told herself. She trudged back to Daiyu's tent as tears stung the corners of her eyes. The rebel wasn't there; Zafirah was grateful for that. She unfurled her sleeping bag and curled up inside it.

It was still kind of early in the night, and she could hear people moving around outside—laughing, talking, playing music and singing songs. She closed her eyes, imagining she was back in the desert… but it was just so different. That wasn't the Janan Tribe outside, or the Aqila Tribe. The desert was miles and miles away. She was in the midst of strangers. Her brother was gone, and Kuei—

She scrunched up inside her sleeping bag, unable to stop the tears that spilled from beneath her tightly squeezed eyelids. Her insides felt like they were tying themselves up in knots. She suddenly felt very lost, and very, very alone.

* * *

Daiyu was waiting for Kuei when he left his tent the next morning. She stood with her arms crossed imposingly over her chest, her eyes narrowed.

"What, exactly, is going on between you and the Sandbender?" she asked bluntly.

Kuei's temper flared a little at the intrusion. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's really none of your business," he said coolly.

"Well, _I'm_ afraid you two are _making_ it my business," Daiyu barked. "From now until the eclipse, you two are part of this team. After the eclipse, if you're still alive, you're welcome to do whatever you please. But until then, anything you do that affects me and my team is _definitely_ my business. I don't know what happened last night, but it _cannot _interfere with your training—for either of you. Is that clear?"

"I… y-yes," he stuttered, taken aback. He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. "Yes, I understand. I promise, I won't let personal feelings interfere," he said as evenly as he could manage. He only hoped he could keep that promise. Daiyu nodded.

"And don't think I'm singling you out here, because Zafirah heard the same thing from me not five minutes ago," she added. "Now go on and get some breakfast." He nodded and walked with her to the cook hut. He was on dish-washing duty again after breakfast, and then it was off to training with Shen.

"Today, we're gonna work on taking the offensive," Shen began. "Yesterday, when we were sparring, I noticed that you were just waiting for me to attack, then blocking and counterattacking. You need more than that. So, today, you're gonna practice attacking first."

Kuei took up a fighting stance, raising his fists and bending his knees, but Shen stood with his hands behind his back. Kuei straightened up a little, confused. Shen just inclined his head. He dropped back into his semi-crouch, considering the best way to attack.

"You're thinking too much about it, aren't you? Don't do that," Shen said flatly. Kuei fell out of his stance again, his jaw dropping open slightly.

"But how-"

"Just attack, smart guy. Don't think, just do it," the rebel boy told him. Kuei took a deep breath and lunged across the short distance between them, his right fist thrusting forward. Shen immediately shot out of his relaxed posture, swinging his arm to block. Like lightning, he struck back and Kuei was on the ground before he could blink. He looked up, winded, and saw Shen's hands were behind his back once again. He scrambled to his feet and took a couple steps back, reassessing. He went for a feint this time, his right leg snapping up in a kick. But once again, Shen sent him sprawling.

"Too timid," the boy proclaimed. Kuei jumped up again and went right into another attack, and this time, he blocked Shen's counterattack. "Not bad, that time," he said approvingly. Kuei was suddenly reminded of another training session, back in the desert—but he pushed the memory away. He couldn't think about that now. It was just a reminder of everything he'd lost in the last couple of days—of the mistakes he'd made. He couldn't get distracted.

He feinted again and came in with a right hook. Shen's eyes widened and he brought his arm up just in time to block. He twisted his arm outward and swept Kuei's fist aside, driving his own fist in towards Kuei's stomach. He freed his wrist from Shen's block and deflected swiftly—he spun and kicked, and his foot hit its target. Shen stumbled back and fell, hitting the dirt.

He rubbed the back of his head with a wince, then smiled up at Kuei. "Much better," he said approvingly.

* * *

Basam stared up at the ceiling of his cell and sighed. Now that the fear had worn off, being in jail was pretty boring.

"Hey, Linh," he called.

"Yes?" she answered.

"What're they planning to do with us? Am I just gonna sit in this cell for the rest of my life?"

"Not necessarily. You're young and strong, so they may send you to a labor camp," Linh said in a dry tone. "Most of the prisoners here are political prisoners, like you and me. Run-of-the-mill criminals in the colonies rarely get trials. They are sentenced and punished in the same day, usually. But political prisoners are a different matter. Their offenses must be catalogued properly, and the military likes to make examples of them. A life of hard labor in the camps puts the fear of the Fire Lord, as they say, into the villagers who live nearby."

"Great," Basam muttered. "How long have they kept you here?"

"Two years," came the reply. He glanced sideways at her in shock. She shook her head, making strands of lank black hair sway around her worn face. "Prosecuting one traitor isn't terribly high on the priority lists of the colonial garrison commanders. I'm sure that eventually they will get around to court-martialing me for treason. Then I will either be sent to the labor camps, or executed." She sounded amazingly unconcerned by what she'd just said.

"Huh! Wish I could have your level of confidence while staring down those odds," he said wryly.

"It could be worse. If my crime had been both violent _and_ treasonous, they would likely have sent me to the Boiling Rock."

"What's the Boiling Rock?"

"It's the highest security prison in the Fire Nation. It is located in the center of a volcanic island, in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable."

Basam whistled. "Wow. They don't do anything halfway, do they?"

"No," Linh agreed. Basam frowned; he hated the thought of either of those things happening to the kind Firebender. And he wasn't thrilled with the thought of being worked to death as a slave, either. He sat up and scooted closer to the bars, beckoning her over.

"We have that big day coming up, you know," he whispered as Linh leaned in towards the bars. After telling Linh their story, he'd decided that it was best to keep from talking too much about the eclipse or Kuei's identity. As far as he knew, no one had overheard them that night. He thought that maybe he should try to keep it that way. "Maybe that's our chance. We could try to escape, you know?"

"We're not very likely to succeed," Linh pointed out.

"Yeah, but still…I think I'd rather die taking a shot at freedom than in some labor camp," he insisted. He dropped his voice even lower. "And besides, we may get help from the outside. My sister and the—" he caught himself before saying Kuei's title. "My sister and my friend are still out there," he said. "I saw them disappear with those people that ambushed the soldiers. They might be planning something. I know the three of us were sort of, well… our little trio was in pretty bad shape last time I saw them. But I know my sister, and she wouldn't let that stop her. And I don't think it'd stop _him_, either. So, who knows? It's worth a shot, right?"

Linh considered it silently. "I suppose so," she agreed slowly. "So, how do you suggest we go about this?" Basam thought about it for a few minutes, and then grinned.

* * *

Zafirah was on her own at breakfast the next morning. Daiyu had taken her bowl and gone to talk with Quan. She didn't really mind; she had no particular urge to talk to the strangers that surrounded her. Once she was done, she went off to her morning duty, which was laundry. Daiyu found her by the laundry basins just as she was finishing up.

"Come on, it's time for Earthbending lessons," Daiyu said. Zafirah dried her hands on her sand-colored tunic and tagged along behind the rebel. "Quan agreed to let you share my tent for the rest of your stay here. He's swapping us into a two-person tent later on," Daiyu added as they walked.

"Oh, uh... good, thanks," Zafirah said. Relief welled up within her—but at the same time, there it was again, that twinge of regret. She shoved it away again just as quickly.

"I'm doing this mainly to keep you and Kuei out of each others' hair," Daiyu explained. "I'm not sure what happened, but you two are obviously having some problems. I'm sorry things are bad between you, but you need to put it aside. If you want to join us in the fight on the day of the eclipse, then we need you two focused on your training and on the mission. We can't afford to have people distracted on a mission this big."

"I understand," Zafirah said quietly.

"Good," Daiyu said. "All right then, come on, let's take another crack at that boulder."

It was the same boulder as the day before, Zafirah noticed with a scowl. She'd certainly spent enough time flinging herself at it yesterday to recognize the Spirits-be-damned thing.

"Don't cross your arms like that," Daiyu told her. Zafirah dropped her arms to her sides with a start. She hadn't even realized she was doing it. "We're going to meditate first. I thought that might help you to feel the flow of your chi better. Have you ever meditated before?"

"Sorry," Zafirah said dryly.

"Okay. Well, just sit down and do what I say." The two women sat beside the boulder. Zafirah followed Daiyu's lead, crossing her legs and placing her hands just so on her knees. "Usually, people meditate with things like candles or incense, and cushions to sit on. We'll just have to make do," Daiyu began. "Close your eyes and breathe in and out deeply, and try to relax your whole body."

Zafirah shut her eyes and breathed as deeply as she could, feeling more than a little ridiculous. She'd never really held with mystical stuff like this; that was more her brother's thing. Her heart clenched at the thought, and she felt a sudden urge to reach for the leather pouch in her tunic pocket. She kept the prayer talisman to remember her father by, but she hadn't prayed with it since she was a kid. And she didn't plan to start again, honestly. But if she knew her brother, and if he was still… if he was okay, she knew he'd be keeping his own talisman close at hand.

"Zafirah, I told you to sit still and relax," Daiyu said.

"I need to get something," she shot back. She retrieved the little pouch from her pocket and clutched it tightly. She shut her eyes again and put her hands back on her knees. She went back to breathing deeply, in and out… in… out…

Soon, the tension in her muscles started to fade. For the first time in days, she actually felt calm. She would've been surprised at how well this was working, but she was too relaxed for things like surprise. The pain and confusion of the last couple of days were still there, but it was like watching it happen to someone else.

Daiyu's voice reached her as if from a distance. "Okay, now I want you to reach inside and feel the energy in your body. Feel the flow of it." She focused her mind inward—slowly, she noticed something warm within her. It swirled around inside her like a desert breeze.

"I feel it," she murmured.

"Good," Daiyu said. "Picture it in your mind as a stream and follow it. See where it leads." Zafirah let the feeling well up and surround her; as she did, it shifted in her mind. It became a hazy stream of light, almost, with an earthy, bronze shade to it. She let it carry her along until it grew, spreading out into a pool of light. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, I—I think so."

"Okay then, open your eyes and stand up. Hold onto that flow of energy." Zafirah took up her Earthbending stance and eyed the rock, sizing it up. As she drew back her right fist, she felt like something was different. _Maybe there's something to this meditation stuff, _she thought_. Maybe it'll work this time…_ She struck the rock with her fist—and once again, she went flying backwards and got the breath knocked out of her as she hit the dirt.

She let out a strangled cry and thumped her fists against the ground. "It didn't work! Ugh, what is _wrong _with me?" Daiyu reached down to help her upright, but Zafirah batted her hand away and clambered upright on her own. The rebel sighed and scratched her head.

"Let's put this aside for now. You said you know how to use a knife, right? We can practice that for now," she said.

"Not till I get this right," Zafirah muttered, retaking her stance.

"That's an order, girl. I outrank you here, and I say you're done with this for today," Daiyu said firmly. Zafirah bristled, but she knew better than to argue.

"Fine, get the practice daggers. At least _that's_ something I'm actually good at."

* * *

_**Three weeks until the Day of Black Sun…**_

"Where are we going?" Zafirah asked. She'd gone with Daiyu for her daily training, as usual, but the rebel led her right past the dirt sparring ring.

"I want to try something," was all the answer she got. Zafirah huffed out an annoyed breath, but she followed anyway. Daiyu led her all the way out to the edge of the camp and into the forest beyond. Soon, they arrived at the bathing pond (which was thankfully empty at the moment).

A thin smile curled the corners of Zafirah's mouth as she stepped out of the trees. This pond was the one place in the camp where she felt any measure of peace. There was a thin strip of sand running all around the water's edge. It wasn't much, but the feeling of those rough grains under her feet always eased the knot of hurt twisting up her insides. It was like a little piece of home. And then there was the pond itself; baths in the desert had been scarce, to say the least, so she enjoyed the chance to soak in the cool water.

"Is it bath time already?" Zafirah asked dryly, turning to Daiyu.

"No, it's meditation time." The rebel seated herself on the sand and gestured for Zafirah to do likewise.

The Sandbender frowned. "Why? It didn't even do anything last time."

"I'm not so sure of that, actually. Just try it, all right?" Daiyu asked. Zafirah sighed and sat down, secretly delighting in the feel of her element beneath her. She shut her eyes and focused, just like before. She found the flow of her chi much more easily this time, though. It felt stronger, too. She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes. Daiyu nodded to her.

Zafirah stood up and lifted her hands, sweeping them forward. She smiled again as a small whirlwind of sand rose up beneath her hands, twisting and swaying at her command. She lunged sideways and sliced her hands through the air, and she could _feel _the energy flowing down through her arms as the sand followed. And just like that, something clicked in her mind. She remembered training with the Aqila Tribe before the Fire Nation's attack—going through those Bending katas, side by side with her fellow Sandbenders…

She'd felt it then—the energy racing along her limbs as she'd gone through each stance—that was the flow of her chi! Her heart thumped against her ribs at the sudden understanding. All of Daiyu's talk made sense now! Her smiled widened and she spun, whipping a trail of sand around her. The rebel just sat and watched, nodding appraisingly.

Zafirah leaped into the air and came down on the shore with a thud, raising a column of sand inches from Daiyu's left knee. She hurtled up and down the shore, fists flying and kicking up her feet, sand flying around her. She threw herself into the Bending, letting herself get lost in it. The knot inside her loosened, and it was like all the hurt and chaos of her mind came flooding out. Finally she stopped, breathless and disheveled. She was worn out, like she always was after her training sessions, but it was different this time. The exhaustion didn't bring with it the sense of hopelessness that her failed Earthbending attempts did. Instead, she felt… light. It wasn't happiness, exactly; she couldn't put her finger on what it was. But for the first time since arriving in the rebel camp, she didn't feel useless.

Daiyu pressed to a stand and put a hand on Zafirah's elbow. "How about you take one more shot at that rock?" she suggested. The Sandbender groaned.

"Can't we quit while we're ahead? I'm actually in sort of a good mood now."

"Just give it one more try. I've got a good feeling about this," Daiyu insisted. Zafirah sighed heavily, but then she nodded. A few minutes later found Zafirah standing, once again, in front of that same rock.

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then pulled her fists back and struck. The force of the strike pushed her back but she dug in her heels, gritting her teeth against the sharp pain in her knuckles and she damn well _made_ herself stay upright. Her feet sank into the soft soil as she pushed back, resisting with all her strength. The struggle seemed to last forever, but then—

The energy pulsed through her arms and _she_ was the one doing the shoving. The boulder slid back with a low rumble. It startled her so much that she lost her balance and fell forward, sprawling against the rock before tumbling to the ground.

Daiyu ran forward and helped her upright. "You did it!" she exclaimed.

"I did it," Zafirah echoed, stunned. "Son of a beetle! It actually worked!" She laughed breathlessly, and a stirring of hope rose up underneath the despair that had taken up residence in her heart. Things were looking up.

* * *

It was dinnertime again, and Kuei moved mechanically towards the cook hut. As he stood in line, he saw a pair of familiar faces in his peripheral vision. Zafirah and Daiyu were heading his way, and the Sandbender was actually _smiling_. It wasn't as big and bright as usual—the way it had been before they'd arrived at the base and everything had gone so horribly wrong. But it was still that familiar smile. It still shone with that confidence of hers that he admired so much.

But then she spotted him and the smile faltered. He looked away quickly; but before he did, he could almost have thought that he saw a flash of guilt in her eyes. No one else had gotten in line behind him yet, so he was still at the end of it when they reached the cook hut. He couldn't have said for sure, but it seemed that Daiyu slowed down a few paces away. Regardless, Zafirah reached the line first and sidled into place behind Kuei. Daiyu took the spot behind her.

Zafirah's eyes were locked on the ground, and he did his best to do the same. It wasn't easy, though. He'd been doing an admirable job, he thought, of following Daiyu's command not to let his personal feelings interfere with his training. But now Zafirah was standing right next to him and it was so hard to ignore the tension in the air between them… and even harder to ignore the fact that this wasn't the way things had been before. And after a couple weeks of hardly ever seeing her, it was also hard to ignore _her_—the way those shorter locks of hair framed her face, or the curve of her waist, or—

"So," she said awkwardly. Kuei jumped at the sudden sound of her voice.

"Hm," was all the response he could manage. He scratched his chin awkwardly. He was starting to grow a beard again—the shaving kit that he and Basam had been using was with the rest of their belongings, somewhere in Hideki's base. And he hadn't wanted to inconvenience anyone here by asking to borrow theirs.

"How's it goin'?" she asked. She shifted her weight, a forced air of nonchalance about her posture.

"Ah. My training is going well," he said cautiously. "And, uh… yourself?"

"I moved a rock," she said.

"Oh. That's good." Kuei cringed inwardly and turned back to the line ahead, grateful to see that it had moved ahead. They didn't speak again as they passed through the line. And once they'd gotten their food, Kuei went off to sit in his usual spot and he lost track of the two women. He stared down at the spicy roast pig-chicken and rice, but he wasn't feeling particularly hungry anymore.

Kuei didn't have any assigned chores after dinner, so he took the opportunity to go for a walk. He wandered through the woods outside the camp until he reached the pond. The sand around its banks was all torn up, he noticed, scattered in heaps and gouged in deep ruts. Memories of Zafirah and Basam's Sandbending moves rose up and a smile came to his face. Then he sighed and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead.

"I can't believe I let this happen," he murmured, sitting down beside the pond. "Everything has fallen apart—and it's all my fault. I let the Fire Nation into Ba Sing Se… I lied to Zafirah and Basam…" he groaned and thumped his hand against his forehead lightly. "Why did I _do_ that? It was so... so stupid! I should have known better!"

He flopped gracelessly back onto the sand. High overhead, a gap in the forest canopy gave him a glimpse of the cloudless night sky. A familiar constellation peeked through the gap: it was the Archer, a folk hero of Earth Kingdom lore. Kuei lifted a hand and traced its shape with a fingertip.

He had a vague memory of his father pointing out the constellations to him. _What would father have done?_ he wondered suddenly. Sometimes, he would try to imagine what his father was like, or how he would have handled various situations. He'd wondered many times how he would have dealt with the fall of Ba Sing Se. Kuei couldn't help but tell himself that his father would never have allowed it to happen at all.

He had very few memories of his father—but the man in them was kind and wise, yet firm when he needed to be. It was Long Feng who had been more of a paternal figure to Kuei. The man had always insisted that he had Kuei's best interest at heart—that he wanted nothing more than for Kuei to become a great ruler.

"You needn't concern yourself with matters like those, Your Majesty," he'd always said. "You should devote yourself to your studies, so that you can become the magnificent leader you are meant to be. Leave these messy political issues to me, Your Highness." As Kuei had grown into a young man, it had changed to, "You don't need to worry about the minutiae of the military, Highness. Your duties are to the citizens of Ba Sing Se."

And Kuei had bought every word of it. He'd trusted the man whole-heartedly. He'd looked up to Long Feng—even admired him. Long Feng had been very good at playing the roles of indulgent mentor and loyal advisor. And so it had been all the more painful when the man had betrayed him, when he'd learned that all of it had been a lie! His fists clenched in the soft sand at his sides as the pain of the moment resurfaced, like a wound reopening. _What a fool I am!_ he fumed inwardly.

And now he was here, cut adrift in a world he could never seem to figure out. He'd ruined the only real friendship he had ever had. Zafirah and Basam had offered him something wonderful, something he had never known before—and he had taken it for granted.

"I never should have lied to them," he said softly. "I should have trusted them more and told them the truth." But it was too late now. The past was done, Basam was gone, and Zafirah could hardly even stand to look at him now. Surely, it was far too late…

He sat up slowly. "There has to be a way of fixing this," he whispered. "I have to try. I can't do anything to help Basam right now, but I can put my all into fighting on the day of the eclipse. And if nothing else, I should at least try to apologize to Zafirah. I have to give it a shot. I owe it to her. And if she doesn't accept it… if I've lost her for good… well, I'll just have to live with that." He rose up from the sand, dusting himself off.

"Perhaps there's a way to make up for my mistakes, after all," he said. He looked up again into the starry sky, and he smiled.

* * *

_**Two weeks until the Day of Black Sun…**_

Life had more or less settled down for Zafirah. She still hurt inside, but it had dulled to an ache. The Earthbending was going… not really very well, but at least it was _going_. She'd moved the rock about ten feet in that day's training. They'd been spending more time on knife-fighting practice than Earthbending, though. With time running out quickly, she knew she needed to stick to what she was good at.

And as for her messy personal life…she and Kuei mostly stayed out of each other's way. But sometimes she'd see him around the camp, and their eyes would meet for a second. A couple of times, he'd started to walk towards her, and she would suddenly find a reason to be busy. And every time it happened, she couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

He'd been right, the night of that argument—they _had_ been good friends before this had happened. True, they'd only known each other for a little less than a month; but when they were together, it felt like she'd known him for years. And the truth was… she hated to think that it was all over.

She thought back to the conversations they'd had, sitting and talking about all sorts of things; she remembered the sparring sessions before the battle, and the night of sand surfing. She was coming to miss all of that, and it got worse with each day that passed since their argument.

And just to make everything even more of a mess… she couldn't ignore the turn that her feelings had taken. She couldn't deny the fact that she felt drawn to him in a way that went far beyond friendship. That hadn't gone away just because she'd been angry. Him being the Earth King hadn't gotten rid of it either, for that matter, even though he was so far above her station that he might as well have been walking on the Moon.

The anger had faded. It seemed stupid to hold onto it now, when there was so much at stake. She knew she couldn't carry that anger with her into battle on the Day of Black Sun. And she didn't _want_ to hold onto it anymore. She didn't _want _to be mad at Kuei anymore. It was too exhausting, and she'd need all her strength for the fight ahead.

And if she was honest…she needed to know she had someone to rely on. Sure, she'd have the rebels fighting next to her, but she didn't know these people that well—except for Daiyu. How much could she actually rely on them?

Zafirah considered herself to be pretty strong, but she knew there were some things you just couldn't do alone. This was one of them. She needed a friend on her side. What she needed was that quiet intensity she'd seen in Kuei back in the desert. He'd proven himself to be dependable out in the desert, and much stronger than he looked.

But with each passing day, the idea of patching things up seemed less and less likely. And with each day, she felt that pang of regret grow.

_I hate this,_ she thought. _There's gotta be something I can do about it. Spirits, I can move a rock around with my mind, why can't I save a friendship?_

* * *

_**Eight days until the Day of Black Sun…**_

Zafirah held her wooden training knife in a loose, easy grip. First rule in holding a blade: don't keep a death-grip on the hilt. She stood in a half-crouch, knife held just above her waist, eyes locked on Daiyu—never on her blade. The older woman stared right back. Then Daiyu shifted her weight, just a little, right before she attacked. Zafirah flew into movement—her left hand shot forward to strike Daiyu's wrist and smack it aside, knife thrusting ahead. But Daiyu grabbed Zafirah's left wrist with her free hand and twisted aside, dodging Zafirah's attack and trapping her arm. Zafirah twisted with her and broke the rebel's grip, then flipped her blade around and slashed at Daiyu's face.

They were pretty evenly matched, Zafirah had to admit. But she'd been swinging a dagger since she was old enough to lift one. She'd been handling blades for almost as long as she'd been Sandbending. She might not have been much of an Earthbender—but if there was one thing she knew she could do, it was this. Daiyu ducked under Zafirah's next swing and her shoulder dug into Zafirah's stomach. She hit the ground, rolled, and swept Daiyu's feet out from under her with a well-aimed kick.

"All right, I surrender!" Daiyu groaned. She chuckled breathlessly as she sat up. Zafirah grinned and reached down a hand to help her up. "You did a good job today, Zafirah," Daiyu went on. "You're already very skilled with a blade, and your Earthbending skills are progressing nicely."

Zafirah smiled thinly. "Thanks, but I don't know that I'd call moving a rock fifteen feet to be 'progressing nicely'."

"You've got a good point, and I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I agreed to teach you Earthbending because I thought I could teach you quickly enough to use it during the attack. But that's just not happening, and we both know it," Daiyu said. Zafirah frowned and nodded in agreement. It hurt to admit, but it was true. Then Daiyu smiled a little. "Luckily, I don't think you'll need it." She turned and walked to the edge of the training ring. She came back with a knapsack in her hands.

"What is it?" Zafirah asked, her curiosity roused. Daiyu opened the sack and pulled out a small cloth bag, tied shut at the top and with a strap attached to either end.

"This is a sand bag. I've heard that Waterbenders used to carry skins of water on them when they traveled abroad—of course, they mostly stay holed up at the North Pole now, from what I hear, so I don't imagine it's much of an issue anymore," Daiyu said, smiling good-naturedly. Then she pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle: it was a dagger, not much to look at but very well made. "You may not be an Earthbender yet, but you certainly know your way around a blade. I think you'll do very well with this on the day of the eclipse," Daiyu added. Zafirah took the two objects, nearly speechless from gratitude.

"Thanks, Daiyu. I… It means a lot to me." She looked down, feeling ashamed. She'd been thinking a lot about the last few weeks, and she'd realized that they didn't cast a very good light on herself. "I've been acting pretty badly, haven't I? I never really thanked you for teaching me Earthbending, and Kuei… I've been horrible to him."

"I guess you have been a little ungrateful," Daiyu agreed wryly. But then her expression turned serious. "You're grieving for your brother. Everyone has a breaking point. But if you really want to make things right, it's never too late to apologize."

"You sure about that?" Zafirah asked with a rueful grimace.

"Well, I suppose sometimes it is too late. So you'd better not waste any more time, then, huh?" Daiyu suggested.

* * *

Kuei went looking for Daiyu after dinner that night. He'd wanted to find her sooner, but he and Shen had been discussing strategy. She looked up and nodded as he approached her.

"Good evening, Kuei," she said pleasantly.

"Good evening," he replied. He hesitated before speaking again. "Would you happen to know where Zafirah is?" Daiyu set down the dagger she'd been cleaning and considered the question.

"Hmm. Try going to the pond. I've noticed her going there some times at night. She likes the chance to Sandbend, I think," she said.

"Thank you," Kuei said. He took his leave of her and headed off into the woods. As he walked, he reflected with some amusement on the fact that he and Zafirah seemed to have developed the same habit—he'd been going to the pond at night to meditate.

He'd just arrived at the pond's edge when he heard a rustling in the brush behind him. He turned and saw Zafirah emerging from the shadows. She froze in place when she saw him.

"Oh," she blurted. "Shen said you might be here, so, uh…"

Kuei's eyebrows went up. "You were looking for me?" he asked, trying not to get too optimistic.

"Yeah, actually," she admitted.

"Ah. I was looking for you, as well," he replied, his eyes darting nervously towards the sand at their feet. Did he dare hope…? Silence fell between them for a moment. Zafirah perched on a rock next to the pond, and Kuei sat down beside her.

"Kinda like old times, huh?" Zafirah commented. "Waitin' for the fight to start. Only this time, we know when it's gonna happen."

"Yes," Kuei agreed awkwardly. The words he wanted to say were straining at the back of his throat; he just had to say it, before lost his nerve. "Zafirah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I lied about my identity. It was childish, and selfish, and—and stupid," he said urgently.

Zafirah blinked in surprise. "Kuei—"

"I never should have kept it a secret," he went on, words spilling out in a rush. "I just didn't know what to do! I was traveling in disguise, you see, and then the Fire Nation attacked the oasis and everything was happening so quickly…" He ran out of steam and heaved a sigh, running his hands over the top of his head.

"So why _did_ you keep it a secret?" Zafirah asked. "The real reason, I mean."

"I've been asking myself the same question. And I think, honestly, well... You and Basam are the first real friends I've ever had. And you… you're also the only people to know me by my true name."

Zafirah's brow furrowed. "I, uh, don't follow," she said. There was an edge of concern in her voice.

"The Earth King gives up his birth name upon ascending to the throne," he explained. "From the day he takes the crown, he is known only as 'the Earth King', or by his succession number. Mine is fifty-two, as I'm the fifty-second Earth King. His family can address him by his name, but never in public. But, ah, I had no family."

"And when did you take the crown?" she asked, a little warily.

"At the age of four," he said. Zafirah's eyes widened.

"Spirits and ancestors," she muttered.

"I think that's why I kept my identity a secret," Kuei said quietly. "As selfish as it is, I wanted to see what it was like for someone to know me as just… myself. I suppose it's sort of ironic that that desire almost cost me the friendship I'd wanted so much. I'd always wanted to have friends, but I never really knew what I'd been missing until I met you and your brother. You are both so important to me…"

A faint, soft smile curled the corners of Zafirah's lips. Once again he felt the temptation to lean in close and find out what those lips felt like. He glanced down to keep himself from doing anything impulsive. He wanted to tell her the true extent of his feelings, wanted to let her know exactly how much she meant to him, but he didn't dare push his luck. It was enough, for now, to know that he might regain her friendship.

"I owe you an apology, too," she said. "I shouldn't have been so cruel to you about Bosco. I know you must be worried about Basam, too, it's just—I was so torn up inside about losin' him, and I was still mad at you for lying. I guess I just took it all out on you. I don't deal with loss very well."

"No one does," Kuei pointed out.

"Maybe, but some people can at least handle it with dignity, or grace, or whatever. I just fall apart, and I get mean," she said bitterly.

"Even so, it's not your fault," Kuei insisted.

"I guess so. But still, I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Zafirah sighed and tapped her heels against the rock they sat on.

"How are you faring, by the way?" Kuei asked gently. "With, well, you know."

"As well as anyone could expect, I guess," she said. "I'm just holding out hope that maybe he's still alive, you know? Maybe they've got him in that jail, somewhere. If he's not there, then, uh, I don't know what I'll do, to be honest. But I have to keep hopin' he's alive."

"I'm sorry you have to go through this," he murmured.

"Yeah, me too," she agreed grimly.

"I said some unkind things to you as well," Kuei said after a minute of silence. "I'm sorry I called the desert 'the middle of nowhere'."

"To be fair, it probably does seem like the middle of nowhere to a city boy like you," she teased gently. He chuckled lightly and looked over at her.

"I didn't mean it, when I said that I didn't want to be here. It's true that I led an easy life in Ba Sing Se—I never wanted for food or water, I was given anything I asked for—but I was always lonely. And I'd never had any real freedom before."

"Well, you got it now. How's it feel?" Zafirah asked.

"It's nothing like I expected," he said. Then he added sheepishly, "I do miss being able to take hot baths, though." He winced as he thought of the icy pond water in front of them. Zafirah laughed at that.

"Hah! Must've been nice, having your own baths whenever you wanted 'em," she said airily. "We had to make do with water collected in metal barrels during the rainy season!"

"Hmm." Kuei tried very hard not to picture her in the bath. "What did you do when the rainwater ran out?"

Zafirah grimaced. "Let's just say, you really don't want to be in a Sandbender tribe in the middle of summer," she said.

"Ah." He glanced back up at the stars; after a moment, though, he felt Zafirah's eyes upon him. He turned to see her looking at him with a warm smile on her face. "What is it?"

She fiddled with the end of her braid, and unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, her cheeks looked a little red. "I… I missed you, Kuei. I missed _this_." She swept her hand in a gesture that encompassed both of them.

"This?" he echoed.

"Y'know, being together—being friends, I mean!" she said quickly. "You're important to me, too. Honestly, I really would've hated losing you for good, and I... I just… aw, Kuei!" She threw herself forward and flung her arms around his neck.

A startled breath escaped him as she collided with him. For a moment, all he could do was sit frozen, his heart racing. He settled his own arms around her waist, hesitantly at first. In that moment, all the tension that had been between them burned away like mist in the morning sun. He pulled her closer, his arms tightening around her as if of their own accord. She buried her face against his neck, clinging to him now.

"Zafirah," he murmured. She let out a deep, shuddering breath. The feel of her warm breath against his neck left a tingle on his skin and sent warmth flowing through his veins. He turned his head, feeling the softness of her hair against his cheek. Sitting there, holding her in his arms, felt better than he ever could have imagined. It felt… _right_, and he never, ever wanted to let go.

But he was going to have to, though. He loosened his grip and pulled back as he felt his body starting to react to her closeness. He smiled nervously at her, hoping he didn't look as flustered as he felt. She sat back on the rock, beaming at him.

"C'mon, let's get back to camp," she said. She hopped down off the rock and stretched out a hand to him. He smiled and took it, gripping her fingers in his.

* * *

Daiyu nearly jumped out of her skin as Zafirah barged into their shared tent suddenly. She grabbed her sleeping bag, sand bag, and dagger, and smiled brightly at the rebel.

"You can have your tent back," she announced. And with that, she swept out again. Daiyu stared after her, puzzled, and then realization dawned. She shook her head and chuckled.

"I guess they made up," she said under her breath. She shook her head again and slid into her sleeping bag.

* * *

**Yay, no more angst! And next up: The Day of Black Sun! 8D Are you excited? I'm excited!**

**For the first time in many chapters, we have a playlist! The songs for this chapter:**

"**Endless Night" [The Lion King, Original Broadway Cast]—Kuei's thoughts by the pond. (I just love this song so much, and it fits so well for Kuei! And if you listen, the actor kind of sounds like Kuei's voice actor! So it's fun to listen to it and imagine Kuei singing it, heh.)**

**http : / / www. youtube. com /watch? v= n1lSvvubI6M**

"**My Life Would Suck Without You" [Glee Cast Version]—Kuei and Zafirah apologize to each other.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com/ watch? v= oPkPiDs2BEs**


	15. Chapter 13

**If Chapter 11 was difficult to write emotionally, this chapter was difficult to write logistically. _ I spent forever hammering out all the details. Infinite gratitude to Hahukum Konn for putting up with all my vacillating on Yahoo Messenger. And thanks to Kitty East as always for reading it over, and my fantastic reviewers!**

**I decided to split the eclipse into two parts, like the series did. Writing it all as one chapter just wasn't working that well. I think you'll like the way I've set this up. ^_^ And yeah, I used the same title as the series. I couldn't resist!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13—THE DAY OF BLACK SUN, PART 1**

Linh woke Basam up just after dawn that morning. Lucky thing, having a Firebender on his side—they always rose with the sun, she told him. His hands quivered with nerves and excitement as he sat up and stretched. This was it: after four weeks in a Fire Nation prison, he was either getting out today or he was going down trying it. He just counted himself fortunate that the eclipse had only been a month away when he'd been captured.

That time without freedom, short as it was, had already worn him down. The metal cell, metal walls, metal ceiling… it was like they were squeezing the air out of his lungs. He knew he wouldn't last if he had to stay here much longer. He took a few deep breaths and ran his fingers through his tangled, dirty hair. Instead of his usual long ponytail, he tied it up on top of his head. He stuck his hand into his pocket and rubbed his fingertips against the talisman pouch quickly, reassuring himself it was still there. Then he settled in to wait.

Their plan was mostly Linh's idea. He'd come up with a way out of their cells, but the Firebender had come up with a way out of the prison. Linh had learned a lot about the inner workings of the jail in the time she'd been there; it was amazing, the things guards talked about in earshot of defenseless prisoners. She knew that they'd installed a mechanical door-locking device, for one thing. It had been a very big deal at the time, apparently, for a little prison like this to get something as fancy as that. Flip a switch and all the cell doors in a row slide open. And she knew which guards had the shortest tempers. There was one guard in particular whose watch shift started in the late afternoon—he was new, young, and clearly felt he had a lot to prove. In other words, he was just what they needed.

* * *

"Here we go," Basam whispered. He'd been watching the tiny window across the hall all morning and all afternoon. He shot one more look around the hall that his cell was in; it was mostly empty right now. The cells around theirs were empty at the moment, and theirs were close to the door. That was good—fewer people to cause a ruckus.

Looking down at the floor of the cell, he spotted part of the mechanism that Linh had described to him. It was a series of heavy latches clamping the bottom of the door shut. There was another set of latches along the top of the door. There was a system of gears and pulleys attached to either side of the door from top to bottom, encased in steel to protect them from damage. Linh had tried to explain the system to him, but it was like listening to a speech in one of those dead languages that Professor Zei had always rambled about.

The brash new guard was about to start his shift; Basam could hear him talking to the guard coming off his shift at the end of the hall. He was in a bad mood, too, from the sound of things. _Good,_ Basam thought with a smirk. He waited a couple more minutes as the last guard left and the new one took up his spot. Carefully, he slipped the talisman pouch out of his pocket and tugged it open. He Bended the sand out into a ball, resting in the palm of his right hand. Then he leaned against the bars of the cell door with his right arm behind his back.

Basam cleared his throat. He started reciting a little rhyme that one of his friends in the Janan Tribe had come up with, back when they were boys. It was all about the Fire Lord, and how he'd gone to war against the other nations because the people there were all so much better-looking than he was. He was jealous and vowed revenge on anyone prettier than him.

"Shut up, scum!" shouted the guard.

"Just keeping myself entertained. It's boring in here!" Basam called back cheerfully. He waited a minute and then launched into the next verse—it talked about how everyone always laughed at the Fire Lord wherever he went, on account of how ugly he was. And the more people laughed, the angrier he got.

"Quiet!" the guard snarled. Basam fell silent for a moment, then smirked and spoke up again.

"Hey, guard!"

"_What_, scum?"

"I was just thinking about that rhyme, you know? And I was wondering if it's true at all. Just how ugly, exactly, is the Fire Lord? Would you tell me?"

"_What?_ How dare you!" the guard howled. Basam saw him turn from his post to glare daggers at him.

"So that's a no, huh? Ah well. Maybe you can tell me something else—I noticed that the rest of you Firebender types are pretty ugly, too. Is there a reason for that?"

"Shut your filthy mouth, peasant!"

"Wow, and you're not very original, either. Peasant, really? I've heard that one before. Got anything better? C'mon, I bet you could swear up a storm!" he taunted.

"I said shut up, you desert filth!" the guard snapped.

"Mmm, nah, still pretty boring. I've got some pretty good insults, if I do say so myself. Wanna hear 'em?" He asked with a grin.

"No!"

"Okay, suit yourself. But I still wanna know why all you Firebenders are so damned ugly. Is that a rule? You have to look like a beetle's hind end to join the army? Because you smell like it too, if I'm honest—"

"Okay, that's it!" the guard roared. He came storming down the hallway towards Basam's cell. The Sandbender noticed with satisfaction that he was wearing a helmet with the faceplate raised. The guard stomped up to the door of Basam's cell, his right fist drawn back. He leaned towards the bars, his face twisted in rage. "I'll teach you to keep your mouth shut, you—"

Basam's right hand shot out through the bars, thrusting the ball of sand right into the guard's eyes. The man didn't even have time to cry out. Quick as lightning, Basam seized the collar of the guard's shoulder armor, ripped off the helmet with his left hand, and slammed the guard's head against the iron bars. The man's knees buckled.

Basam shot a quick look around the hall. The prisoners at the end of the hall had taken notice, but they weren't saying anything. He lowered the guard to the ground and crouched down, hands reaching for the keys at the man's belt. _C'mon, c'mon_, he thought. His fingers closed around the keys at last and he yanked them off of their belt hook. He jumped to his feet and reached through the bars, twisting his arm around to reach the lock. He fumbled with the keys for what felt like hours before the lock clicked and the latches snapped open. It was the most Spirits-blessed sound he'd ever heard at that moment. Triumph surged through him as the door swung open.

"There are handcuffs on his belt," Linh said in a harsh whisper. "Get changed and bind him, quickly!" Basam spotted the metal cuffs and plucked them off the belt as he dragged the guard into the cell. Linh obligingly turned around as Basam started in on the guard's clothing. The guard was about as tall as he was, though a little narrower in the shoulders. He stripped off his wraps, tunic, undershirt and pants, then hastily replaced them with the guard's gear. The blood-red fabric looked strange against his skin. And the stiff boots… _The sooner I get these off, the better! How do they ever get anything done wearing these? _ he thought irritably. He settled the helmet on his head and slid the faceplate down. Then he tugged his own clothes onto the guard and cuffed the man's hands behind his back.

He tucked the talisman pouch into the pocket of his new pants, and then he grabbed the keys and opened Linh's cell. She immediately ducked back into his cell and knelt by the guard. She tore a strip of fabric off of one arm wrap and stuffed it into the man's mouth, and then tied another strip over his mouth.

"I heard you guys can breathe fire," Basam whispered. "Won't he just burn through it after he wakes up?"

"Not all Firebenders have the Breath of Fire technique. And even if he does, he will risk inhaling all of the ashes if he does burn the gag," Linh explained.

"Oh. Uh, okay then," Basam muttered, cringing a little at the thought of choking on ashes.

"Psst!" hissed one of the other prisoners. Basam whirled around and raised a finger to his lips.

"Ssh! Hold on," he hissed back. He rushed down the hall to the six other prisoners. They all stared at him with eager eyes. "I'll get you guys out, I promise. But I need to stick to my plan. I'm gonna go for that door unlocker. Just wait till then, okay? Please?" he whispered urgently. A burly man in Earth Kingdom green and brown glared at him.

"How can we trust you?" he demanded.

"I, uh… I don't know, honestly," Basam admitted. "But you _have_ to, you really do!" Linh came up behind him and spoke.

"We cannot take the risk of eight people sneaking through the base," she said. "Our plan will only work with two of us. If we were to let you out now, and the guards caught you, they would bring you back here and find the guard in that cell. That can't happen yet. The other guards must stay away from here for now. Once we reach the door switch, you will all be free." Basam shot her a grateful look.

There was a painful pause as the six prisoners exchanged glances. Basam could practically _feel_ precious minutes going to waste. Finally, another prisoner spoke up.

"I'll wait," he said gruffly. The rest agreed one by one. Basam's shoulders sagged in relief.

"Thank you," he whispered. Then he nodded to Linh. She turned away from him and crossed her forearms behind her back. He loosely tied her wrists with a strip of cloth from his leg wraps and took hold of her upper arm. They walked swiftly to the door at the top of the hall, and Basam paused to take a deep breath. "This had better work," he said quietly.

Linh knew a thing or two about Earth Kingdom jails, from her time as a soldier in the Fire Nation colonies. She hadn't seen much of this one, but she'd told him that it was bound to be similar to the rest. And she'd been awake when they brought her in, so she'd seen more of the prison than he had. The prison had four halls filled with these cage-like cells. They would be arranged in a square, with one hall on each side. She wasn't sure where the door-locking switches were, but they'd be someplace close by.

He pushed the door open and glanced around with what he hoped was an authoritative air. The door opened onto the wide square in the middle of the prison building. And it was filled with guards. He saw eight sentries patrolling the sides of the square, and eight more surrounding a platform set in the very middle of it. Next to the platform, he saw a round staircase that went up through a hatch in the ceiling and down underground; Linh had said that the guards' quarters would be on the second floor of the building. There would be more Firebenders up there, and all of them would come running at the first hint of trouble. But that was okay, really—he and Linh had a plan.

He squared his shoulders and gently pushed Linh in front of him. She stumbled a little to make it more convincing. He strode out into the square with all the confidence he could gather. _Just walk like you own the place,_ he told himself. Their father had told him that if you acted like you knew what you were doing, most folks would just assume that you did.

"Hey, you," said the closest sentry, "Where're you taking that prisoner?"

"She tried to Firebend at me, so she's goin' into the dark cell," Basam growled. He pitched his voice higher to sound more like the angry guard. Linh had told him that most Earth Kingdom prisons had "dark cells" where prisoners who misbehaved got locked up by themselves. The walls and door were solid metal and there were no windows at all. The sentry nodded.

"All right, carry on," he said. Basam gave Linh another shove and they kept walking across the square. The little hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as they passed sentry after sentry. It was like walking through a buzzard-wasp hive. He let Linh lead the way, still holding onto her arm to keep up their disguise. As they got closer to the platform, Linh coughed sharply. Basam shot a quick look at the platform and saw exactly what they needed—it was the door locking device, four iron switches connected to a rounded box with slots in it.

Then, out of nowhere, a heavy hand landed on Basam's shoulder and his heart just about stopped. "What do you think you're doing, soldier?" demanded a feminine voice. He turned quickly and saw another sentry standing there. Her lips were set in a deep frown under her helmet's visor. "The dark cells are belowground," she said sternly.

"Uh, right, sorry," Basam muttered.

"That's 'sorry, Lieutenant' to you," the sentry barked.

"Sorry, Lieutenant," he echoed.

"And don't you forget it. Now come on—I'll help you get this prisoner locked up." She turned and started walking towards the stairs, and Basam found himself hurrying to keep up, pushing Linh along ahead of him. Their metal boots clanked against the metal stairs as they dropped down into the dark basement. It was much colder down here. Basam tried hard not to shiver.

The passageway at the bottom of the stairs was like the one they had been in, but dark and damp. Basam was suddenly grateful for the tiny windows in their hall. Once they'd gotten away from the stairs, the sentry whirled around, pushed Linh aside, and grabbed the front of Basam's stolen tunic.

"You're not a guard," she said bluntly, her voice a harsh whisper. He opened his mouth to deny it but he couldn't get words out past the panic boiling up inside him. "And neither am I," she added. Basam's jaw fell open even more, completely confused. "Are you the Sandbender?"

"Uh…last time I checked, yeah," he whispered back. "Who're you?"

"Let's just say, I know the people that attacked the convoy in the woods. It's better if we avoid names. Your sister and friend are safe, by the way. I couldn't get a message back to them about your status. Now, what are you up to?"

"We're trying to get to the door mechanism," Linh said, her voice so soft Basam could hardly hear it. The spy nodded and walked past them to the door of the closest dark cell. She unlocked the heavy door and swung it open slowly. Its massive hinges grated loudly. The spy waited a minute, swung the door shut, and locked it again. Basam just stared at her.

"So no one upstairs gets suspicious," she explained. "How're you getting to the mechanism? Tell me everything—and quickly, we can't stay down here too long."

"We had a diversion planned—the alarm bells," Linh said. She explained their plan calmly and carefully. The spy nodded in understanding. Linh had told Basam that most Earth Kingdom prisons had alarm systems: iron bells bolted to the walls all around the building. If there was a riot, a fire, or some other emergency, a guard would ring the nearest bell. They had a different number of rings for each situation. Another guard would hear it and ring the next bell, and so on until the message spread all through the building. The spy smirked at the two of them. She had nice lips, he had to admit. He wondered what the rest of her face looked like.

"We can help you there," she said.

"We?" Basam echoed. The spy just smirked even wider and turned to Linh. "Wait down here for a bit." A minute later, Basam and the spy came up from the basement.

"Next time, new guy, get permission from the warden before you move a prisoner," she said firmly.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Basam said dutifully. They parted ways, the spy heading back to her post and Basam walking back to the hall where his cell had been. He could see her out of the corner of his eye as he walked, watching her closely—

She cut a sharp right and dashed towards the bell on the wall. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Basam spun around and sprinted for the platform. Running in the metal boots was even worse than just walking. He slammed his shoulder into a guard that ran at him, knocking him down and leaping over him—but then two more guards jumped into his path, fists raised. He skidded to a stop and stumbled back a step, and then fell into a fighting crouch. _Fighting armored Firebenders without sand or weapons… this should be interesting,_ he thought grimly.

The woman on the left struck first—fire exploded from her fist aimed right at Basam's head. He shouted and ducked. The one on the right laughed viciously and kicked a stream of fire at his legs; Basam twisted, lost his balance, and hit the metal floor hard. He was back on his feet in a heartbeat and the guard stopped mid-laugh. The Firebender raised his fists to send another flame his way but Basam lunged inside his reach, knocked his fist aside and punched him right in the jaw, then spun and kicked him in the gut. The guard staggered back and fell. The second one rushed at him and they grappled for a minute—but then the female guard jerked, grunted, and slumped down.

Basam looked up in shock and saw another guard, who'd just dropped the woman with a section of metal pipe to the back of the head. The third guard nodded at him. _Another spy! _Basam thought in amazement._ That's what she meant by 'we'!_ But the rest of the guards had gotten over their surprise by then, and now he and his handful of allies were really in for it.

Behind the new spy he saw guards racing down the stairs from the quarters on the upper level. They only made it halfway down: a massive burst of flame roared up from the dark basement, swallowing up the bottom half of the stairs. The guards at the front of the pack screamed and fell from the stairs. The flames faded out and Linh leaped out from the lower stairwell. The metal stairs glowed red-hot behind her.

"Show 'em how it's done, Linh!" Basam crowed. But then another Firebender at the top of the stairs started drawing out the heat, cooling the metal down, and the rest of the guards rushed out into the square. He saw them grab Linh out of the corner of his eye, and judging by the yelling on his right, they had the first spy too. The rest spread out between Basam and the platform, fists aimed straight at him. _Well, at least I got this far,_ Basam told himself ruefully, bracing himself. They punched their fists forward all at once… and nothing happened. The solar eclipse had started!

Basam let out a whoop and ran straight at the guards, with the second spy right next to him. The guards closed in on him as he hurtled towards them, but they were too slow. They'd spent too long sitting on their hind ends in this prison; even with the clunky boots and shoulder armor, Basam was still quicker than them. He drove his fist into the gut of the nearest one, and a smack from the spy's metal pipe finished him off. Another one attacked from Basam's left and he just barely ducked the man's kick, blocked a punch, then took the next kick to his back. He staggered forward, winded. But then he grinned at the telltale sound of a fist hitting its target. He looked up and saw the first spy, smirking down at him.

Basam took a breath and broke away from the guards, running for the platform. A sentry made a grab for him but he twisted just out of reach of the grasping fingers and hurtled up the steps to the top. The four switches sat before him, looking much bigger and heavier up close. He grabbed two and pushed them forward. The device resisted for a moment and then the switches moved with a metallic groan. They clunked into place and he threw the next two switches.

The low sound of grinding metal echoed through the square as the mechanism went to work, making the platform shake under his feet. Everyone in the square chamber went dead silent for a moment. Then prisoners poured out of the four halls, muttering amongst themselves. The guards charged at them and the prisoners started to fall back. But then Basam cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to them.

"_This is a jailbreak!_" he bellowed. "There's a solar eclipse right now and the Firebenders are all out of firepower! It won't last long, but we outnumber 'em, so let's give 'em some fury!"

And that was when all chaos broke loose. A roar went up from the prisoners and they surged forward against the guards. Basam vaulted over the platform railing and landed feet-first on top of two of the Firebenders that had taken aim at him. And when he heard the satisfying clank of his boots against their helmets, he was kind of glad he had metal shoes on. He gave them another stomp for good measure and then rushed into the crowd.

Linh found him and smiled widely. "Nicely done, my friend," she said over the tumult of the fighting. Her reddish-brown eyes were lit up with a kind of fierce delight that would have terrified Basam if he were her enemy.

"Not bad, yourself!" he replied, grinning back. Then he shouted, "Behind you!" Linh spun and punched the guard coming at her right in the gut. He fell with a strangled cry. Basam let out a low whistle. He shot a look about the chamber; all around him, he saw prisoners battling it out hand-to-hand with the guards that had held them prisoner. And it was obvious that the Firebenders had let their hand-to-hand skills suffer, because the prisoners were pushing them back one step at a time. The prisoners were forcing them to the walls, pinning them down.

"We must get out of here as soon as we can," Linh said urgently. "The front gate is on the upper level." She pointed towards the stairs behind him.

Basam nodded and turned to head back towards the steps—a kick came out of nowhere and an armored foot slammed into his stomach. He grunted and reeled back, gasping for breath as he took stock of the Firebender that had attacked him. _This_ one hadn't forgotten his hand-to-hand techniques. Basam blocked the guard's next spinning kick and punched at the man's unarmored face, but the guard swatted his fist aside like it was a mosquito-fly. Basam winced at the pain in his wrist and ducked the next punch. Just as the guard's fist drew back for another one, he heard clanking footsteps behind him. Basam sidestepped quickly, and _clank!_ The second guard collided with the first and they both fell down. Basam dodged around them and bounded to the stairs.

He climbed up the first few steps and shouted into the chaos again. "Everybody, listen! We're getting out of here! Make for the front gate! This way!" At first, he wasn't sure anyone had heard him. But then they started shoving the fireless Firebenders aside and poured towards the stairs. Basam grinned, triumphant, and raced up the steps with the thunder of the prisoners' footsteps following him.

They ran through the guards' quarters, past bunk-rooms and a kitchen before they finally found it. The front gate was a simple set of metal doors at the western end of the upper floor. There were two guards in front of them, nervously clutching their spears. They lasted about half a minute before they dove out of the way. One of them gathered his wits long enough to hand over the keys to the heavy lock on the door. Basam didn't hesitate before unlocking it, throwing his arms out and shoving his palms against the metal. Hinges screeched as the doors slowly swung outward. A warm spring breeze blew in as the doors opened; the prisoners behind him cheered.

And the sunlight! There wasn't much of it at the moment, with the sun blocked. There was a dark haze over the forest outside, like it was nightfall. But the few rays of light that fell through the doorway were like a gift from the Spirits to Basam.

He leaped through the doorway and charged down the winding metal stairs beyond with all the prisoners on his heels. He ducked out of the way at the bottom of the stairs and pulled the metal boots off. And the moment his feet touched the ground, he felt like a new man. He jumped up and threw the boots aside and then yanked off the helmet, his heart soaring at the feel of the fresh air against his face. The shoulder armor went next, and the bracers. He stood and dug his toes into the soil; it wasn't the sand of his home, but he didn't care right then. Soil or not, it was _gorgeous_. He threw his head back and laughed.

Linh and the female spy from the basement wandered over. The eclipse ended as they drew near, the sunlight coming back with all its glory. He grinned at them. "And you said we weren't likely to succeed!" Basam joked to Linh.

"I am happy to be proven wrong," she said gleefully. Then she grew a little more serious and gestured to the sky. "We should get away from here before the guards get it into their heads to come after us," she pointed out.

"Good idea," agreed the spy. "We should go to the fortress—there was supposed to be an assault there today, to reclaim it from Captain Hideki."

"How'd you keep all these secret messages away from the prison guards? The real ones, I mean," Basam asked as the three of them walked quickly away from the jail. All around them, the prisoners scattered into the woods.

"They were coded to look like love letters," the spy explained. Basam chuckled approvingly. "I know where they keep the komodo rhinos—we can get to the fortress quickly if we take a couple."

The rhino barn was across a small clearing from the main gate. The spy spotted two that already had their saddles on, picked one of them and swung easily up onto its back. Linh clambered up onto the other one. Basam eyed the huge beasts warily. He didn't like the way they glared at him. Linh cleared her throat pointedly. He scrambled up onto the saddle behind Linh and the three of them set off.

The rhinos set a surprisingly snappy pace, for being such lumbering beasts. As they approached the base, Basam spotted thin trails of smoke rising up from within its walls.

"The attack must be underway already," the spy said.

"How're we gonna get in there?" Basam asked.

"There's a hidden door about a mile from the outer wall—so the soldiers could get supplies in if the fortress ever came under siege. It'll take us right into the tower at the center of the place. It's not far from here." They turned their rhinos and headed back into the forest. The spy found the door quickly enough. It was a round, stone hatch set into a boulder. The spy planted her feet apart, lifted her hands, and thrust her palms at it. The door slid back and fell out of sight. Basam felt a twinge of envy at her Earthbending skills. He and Linh let the spy lead the way into the dark tunnel beyond the door.

He knew it wasn't that long of a walk, but it felt like ages. The closer they got, the more nervous Basam felt. Had his sister and Kuei been part of the attack on the base? (Or fortress, as the spy kept calling it.) He wanted to break into a run, the sooner to reach the fortress and find out.

Finally they reached the door at the other end. The tunnel brought them up into a cellar. The spy paused at the cellar door, pressing her ear against it. Satisfied that the coast was clear, she opened the door and they climbed up a short set of dirt stairs. When they reached the top, the spy pushed aside a fake wall panel and they all stepped through it. They were somewhere deep inside the tower's lower floors now. The spy motioned to them to keep moving.

A noise caught Basam's ear as they crept through the tower, searching for a way out. He heard the sounds of a commotion drifting down a passageway to their left and waved to the others to stop for a moment. It sounded like a struggle. He heard two male voices, and a woman shouting. _Wait a minute, that sounds like…_ Unease rose up inside Basam. He motioned his companions to follow and they crept down the passageway until they reached the doorway. Basam inched forward until he could see into the room, staying hidden in the shadows.

Horror seized him at the sight that met his eyes. Kuei stood to one side of the room, his face a pale mask of terror and one hand reaching out, like he was frozen. Captain Hideki stood across from him… and in front of Hideki, eyes blazing with fear and hatred, was Zafirah. Her hands were bound up behind her back. The Firebender had her braid wrapped around his left fist, tugging her head back and exposing her throat to the curved dagger pressing against it.

Hideki spoke then, his voice just as cold and calm as Basam remembered. "Surrender, Earth King, or the sand rat will die."

* * *

**Playlist:**

**1) **"**One Against Four" [True Grit]—The jailbreak begins.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=v_FcKVPmhUw**

**2) **"**Fall" [TRON: Legacy]—Jailbreak continued.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=5ECLMGiAl6A**

**3) **"**Run Free" [Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron]—Jailbreak; prisoners escape the jail.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=Au_xUL9_DOg**


	16. Chapter 14

**So as I was writing these two chapters, I realized that I'd never read the Wiki entry for General Fong's base! Bad author. So I went and read it. Turns out it's called General Fong's Fortress, not base. Hence the spy calling it a fortress at the end of Ch13. Heh, whoops. ^_^ But I am far too lazy to go back and replace each instance of "base" with "fortress" in the preceding chapters. So I'll just use "fortress" from now on.**

**Big thanks to my betas, as always, and to Avatar of Wurms, the one person who reviewed Chapter 13. **

* * *

**CHAPTER 14-THE DAY OF BLACK SUN, PART 2**

The rebels left camp early that morning. The eclipse wouldn't begin until late in the afternoon, but they would need to be in position at the fortress by then. Kuei remembered what Quan had said in their final strategy meeting:

"We have to be careful," he'd said. "There are five watchtowers at the fortress, two at the main gate and three more around its perimeter wall. And then there are the exterior walls to account for—three of the damn things, one extending out from each of the three perimeter towers. They go for miles and miles over the landscape, punctuated with watchtowers every mile or so, so we can't go around 'em. And we can't reach the fortress's front gate without crossing at least one of them."

Now they all stood on the road leading up to the cave outside the rebels' valley. Quan looked over his troops; he gestured to the two units of Earthbenders and non-Bending warriors in front of him.

"First wave, move out," he ordered. The two units turned and disappeared into the trees.

Kuei and Zafirah were in the second wave, which meant their time wouldn't come for quite a while. They were standing near the back of the group. Shen and Daiyu were up at the front, with Quan. All of them were decked out in camouflage; they wore dark greens and grays, and they had streaks of dark paint on their faces. Zafirah was armed with her sand bag and her new dagger; Kuei had a war club that Quan had given him from the rebels' armory. Shen had declared Kuei to be a quick learner, but Kuei still felt more comfortable with the war club than with his fists.

"When all else fails, stick with what you know best," Shen had told him.

"Second unit, let's go!" Quan barked. The remaining rebels set off down the road. Kuei shot a look at Zafirah as they moved silently through the forest. She was walking rather close to his side, he noticed. But if she was nervous, she didn't show it. All he saw on her face was fierce determination. Her jaw was set firmly and her eyes practically burned. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of that fury. The green and gray paint made her look like some warrior Spirit, he thought—dark and vengeful.

He, on the other hand, was probably nervous enough for both of them. He wasn't entirely convinced that they were going to pull this off. They had much fewer people on their side this time, for one thing. In the desert, Qamar's messengers had rallied a few hundred Sandbenders to their cause. Here they had around fifty rebels, and they were up against a heavily fortified military base. There was a reason why the Fire Nation hadn't taken General Fong's fortress until now. The rebels did, however, have one significant advantage that Fire Nation troops lacked: Earthbenders.

He glanced at Zafirah again and found her looking back at him. She gave him a thin-lipped smile and held out one slender hand to him. He took it and she squeezed his fingers reassuringly. He smiled back and gripped her hand in return. The nerves settled somewhat. The two of them had already seen Fire Nation forces defeated once—they knew it was possible, and they knew it could happen again. The rebels could win this. They had to win.

Soon they reached the inky black mouth of a tunnel; it was the entrance to a system of passageways leading through the heart of the mountain. These tunnels would take them beneath the exterior walls… right to the front gate of the fortress. Kuei's stomach lurched in trepidation as the rebels moved forward into the mouth of the tunnel. Torches flared to life throughout the group as the daylight disappeared behind them. There were only a few torches between them—at the head, sides, and end of the group—so Kuei trod carefully.

The back of his neck prickled as they walked. The further they went, the more eerie the tunnels became. The air was perfectly still, not even a whisper of a breeze to stir it. They all walked as silently as they could; even so, their soft footfalls echoed strangely. Every sound had an odd, flat quality to it. He and Zafirah exchanged uneasy glances.

At last they emerged from the tunnels. The passageways had left them on the far side of the northwestern exterior wall, hidden within the trees at its base. The fortress lay to their left, looming high above them.

A third unit split from the group now, heading off to their assigned post. The rest of the rebels continued on. They were within sight of the watchtowers now, so every footstep had to be taken with care. They crept through the trees at a painstaking pace, pausing at every cracking twig or crunching leaf. Finally they reached their destination—the sheltered spot beneath the bridge leading up to the base's front gate. They settled into place without a word spoken amongst them.

Breaking down the gate would be easy enough. Under Fong's control, the front gate would have opened the way gates did in Omashu and Ba Sing Se—by Earthbending. But that wouldn't work for the Fire Nation, obviously, so they had blasted a hole in the wall and covered it with a gate of wood and iron instead. Yes, it would be quite simple to break through that gate.

Getting past the armed guards, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.

* * *

One of the nice things about watch duty, Lieutenant Li thought, was that there was a cool breeze that blew up from the ocean. And he had a good view of the sea, too, being stationed atop the northwestern watchtower—though not as good a view as the guys stationed on the towers at the front gate, of course. There were certainly worse places that a Fire Nation colonial garrison could've ended up, though. Good thing Captain Hideki was such an influential man, to get awarded command of a captured enemy fortress. Li shot a quick glance at Xia, the other guard stationed with him; her back was to him. He quickly lifted his visor and wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was a hot day.

Just then, he heard a funny sort of sound coming from below the watchtower. It was like a soft grinding noise. He approached the edge of the tower and peered over the railing. His eyes went wide. A platform of white rock zoomed up the side of the tower, with six dark figures riding atop it! Li opened his mouth to shout an alarm, but before he could get a single sound out, one of the figures threw its arm up—the last thing he saw was the rock that shot up and struck his helmet. He crumpled to the floor.

Xia spun around just in time to see six camouflaged people leap over the railing of the tower. Her fists flew up to Firebend but it was too late: as soon as their feet hit the floor, stones flew up from beneath her and wrapped around her hands. One of the dark-clad figures ran over and quickly knocked her out.

At the northeast tower, two more sentries fell to dark-clad intruders.

In the southeast tower, Sergeant Hisao turned just in time to see his fellow sentry come at him with a knife. His body hit the floor and the spy waved down to the Earthbenders at the bottom of the tower. Now only one more obstacle stood in their way—the watchtowers by the main gate.

* * *

They could see it clearly, coming from the northwest guard tower. Three flashes of light off the blade of a dagger, then two, then three more. _That's the signal!_ Kuei thought. He remembered it from Quan's final strategy meeting. That sequence meant that the first wave was complete. The three perimeter watchtowers were theirs. Now it was their turn.

But then something else happened: clanging bells resonating from inside the base. They'd been found out!

"Now!" Quan roared. The rebels thundered out from beneath the bridge and stormed the gates. Kuei ran alongside Zafirah, his pulse pounding in his ears. The Earthbenders at the head of the column thrust stone pillars up from either side of the bridge—giant spears of rock that crashed through the gate and tore it to splinters. The rebels charged through the dust cloud. For a moment, Kuei couldn't see a thing; then they were through the debris and into the main courtyard of the fortress.

Fireballs streaked down from the watchtowers by the main gate and there were soldiers pouring out from the barracks. But Quan's plan was already in motion: six Earthbenders at the rear of the rebel force ran to the two watchtowers, planted their feet firmly against the ground, and thrust their palms into the stone. A loud rumbling filled the air and the oncoming Firebenders paused.

Fractures split the stone around the Earthbenders' hands—they turned into deep cracks that raced up the length of the towers. Kuei heard the guards' cries of panic from above as the stone crumbled beneath their feet. The Earthbenders shoved forward, a low rumbling filling the courtyard as the cracks widened. The towers pulled away from the wall, with the groan of shattering stone growing louder and louder. The towers and the wall around them collapsed, falling away from the fortress. They toppled into the forest beyond the front gate.

Kuei stood, transfixed by the sight. He'd known about Quan's plan, but seeing it happen was something else entirely. He'd never seen such a raw display of Earthbending power before. Suddenly, he was feeling much more optimistic.

Then the moment ended and the Firebenders came to their senses. Their enraged shouts rang through the air and they charged. The rebels gathered together, bracing for the attack. Kuei and Zafirah glanced at each other, nodded, and took their fighting stances. He raised the new club; Zafirah tugged open her sand bag and gripped her dagger in her right hand.

And then the Fire Nation soldiers were upon them and everything turned to chaos. Just like in the desert battle, the noise was deafening. Shouts and screams echoed across the courtyard. And then there was the sound of Firebending itself—the sharp _crack_ of a fireball erupting from a soldier's fist.

Arrows and rocks hurtled down on the Firebenders from the captured watchtowers, and the Earthbenders at the edges of the rebel force unleashed a show of Bending skill unlike anything Kuei had ever imagined. Pillars of rock roared up, launching Firebenders into the air. Stone slabs shot out of the earth to block fireballs and spears. And those at the center of the group stayed on their guard, tensed and ready. They knew the plan—they had to stay together as a group. If they scattered, the Firebenders would overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"Forward!" Quan shouted from the center of the group. "Press ahead!" The rebels started to move again, towards the central command tower, struggling ahead one hard-won step at a time. The Firebenders pushed them back though. They surged against the rebels and drove them back towards the gate. He looked up at the sun; there were so many Firebenders, and the eclipse seemed so far away…

The Firebenders surrounded them now. The rebels bunched in on themselves and rock shields rose up around them. Fireballs rained down on the shields, shaking them. When one shield crumbled, another shot up to take its place. Then—a cry of pain, and one shield fell along with its maker. The other Earthbenders scrambled to close the gap as the soldiers fired through it.

"Keep the shields up!" one of the rebels shouted.

"Earthbender scum!" screamed a Firebender, both fists hurling fire at the rebels. Kuei saw the rebels near the gap struggling to get away—not all of them made it. A rock wall shot up in front of the soldier, cutting off his attack before anyone else could fall. Kuei's blood ran cold; was this the end already? They couldn't hold out much longer…

One last _crack_ rang out, one last spurt of flame crashed against a rock shield, and then… silence. The sky grew dark, as though it were twilight. Nervous chatter sprang up amongst the Firebenders, turning to panicked shouts. And now a new kind of chaos began as the Firebenders fell back. It was the rebels' turn.

The Earthbenders raised their arms; with a deep rumble, walls of earth sprang up between the rebels and the Firebenders. With a flick of the Earthbenders' hands, the walls raced outward, forcing the Firebenders back across the courtyard. A battlecry rose up from the rebels; Zafirah joined in beside Kuei, shaking her dagger in the air and shouting to the skies. Firebenders spilled around the rock walls and charged at the rebels, armed with spears and with fists that were still quite deadly, even without their fire. The rebels fanned out, with a wall of rock at their backs and the tower ahead of them.

"Get to the tower!" Quan screamed over the noise. "Press forward!"

The sounds of battle rang out again—metal striking against metal, against flesh. The Earthbenders tore up the courtyard in a flurry of stone spears and shields.

Spear-wielding Firebenders broke through the front ranks of the rebel forces. Kuei yelled and just barely ducked the spear that thrust at his chest. He swung his club, more on instinct than strategy. It connected with the haft of the spear and knocked it aside. The soldier spun it like a bo staff and Kuei leaped back out of its path. He struck the haft again as the spearhead drove at his face, and then he grabbed hold of the spear, just like Shen had shown him, and twisted. His enemy was supposed to lose his balance—but the soldier wrestled the spear haft away from Kuei. He swore inwardly. The soldier whirled the spear haft towards his knees, meaning to knock Kuei's feet out from beneath him. Kuei jumped into the air and the haft swung harmlessly beneath him. The soldier dropped his guard for just a moment, surprised, and Kuei dashed into his reach and swung his club. It clanged off the soldier's helmet and he dropped.

"Nice one!" Zafirah cheered from next to him, busily fending off another spear-wielding soldier.

"Uh, thanks," he said back, stunned. He hadn't even planned that! Another soldier charged at him. Kuei deflected the first spear thrust. He wasn't quite so quick on the next swing—the soldier spun the spear around, lashed out, and the spearhead sliced into his side. He fell back with a cry of pain, clutching the wound. He felt blood trickling between his fingers.

* * *

Zafirah saw the spear strike Kuei from the corner of her eye. He staggered back with his hand pressed against his side.

"Kuei!" she shouted, panic flashing through her. But then the man in front of her ran at her again, spear raised. She twisted out of the way, but this soldier was a quick one; he recovered, turned to face her again right away and twirled the spear. Zafirah was starting to wish Daiyu had given her a bigger sand bag. She Bent sand from the pouch and sliced it sideways against the spear haft. It knocked the soldier off-balance enough for Zafirah to wrench the spear from his hands. She gave it a whirl and smacked the haft of it across the soldier's stomach. He gasped and reeled back, and she dropped him by ramming the butt of the spear against his helmeted forehead.

Zafirah turned quickly and saw the other soldier taking aim at Kuei, ready to finish him off. She Bent a stream of sand and scattered it beneath the other soldier's feet; he took another step and she jerked her fists back. The sand flew out from under him and he toppled to the ground. She was on the soldier in a heartbeat, cracking the hilt of her dagger upside his head. She Bent all the sand back to he pouch and dashed over to Kuei.

"Let me see it," she said flatly. He nodded and she led him over to the shelter of the rock wall at the rebel group's rear. _He's still on his feet, that's a good sign,_ she told herself.

He pulled his hand away from the wound. She gently peeled back the bloodied, torn cloth of his shirt, cringing at the gash across his pale skin. Kuei winced as she put her fingertips on either side of the wound, checking it carefully. It was a shallow cut, thankfully. She sighed in relief and patted his shoulder.

"You'll be okay. Blood makes it look worse than it is," she told him. "C'mon, let's get out there and smash some Firebender heads!" The two of them left the rock wall and pressed through to the front of the group. The rebels had tightened their ranks up again, making a solid column marching towards the central tower. They knew that they needed to take out Captain Hideki and his officers in order to take the base.

"He'll be at the rear of the Fire Nation troops," Quan had said. "I figure the highest-ranking officers will be close enough to direct the battle, without risking their own lives in the fighting."

The fireless soldiers came at the rebels from all sides, but they couldn't break into their ranks again. Earthbenders defended the column, raising up rock shield and throwing the soldiers back. And they couldn't do much about the rebels still up in the watchtowers, either, raining down stones and arrows on their heads. That wall belonged to them now; nobody was getting up there but Quan's people. They were one step closer to winning.

"There!" Quan bellowed from the head of the column. Zafirah looked up and saw Hideki standing atop the terrace at the tower's base. Soldiers lined the steps leading up to the terrace, all the way down to the courtyard. The rebels roared and doubled their pace. Hideki shouted an order to his soldiers, but Zafirah couldn't hear it over the noise of the fight.

The spear-carrying soldiers in the courtyard tightened up their ranks around the rebels, trying to force them back with the weight of their numbers. But their Earthbenders were one step ahead of the soldiers; deep trenches opened up under the front lines of the Firebenders and down they went, tripping up the soldiers behind them as they charged blindly ahead.

And then they were at the tower. It loomed high above their heads, Fire Nation flags fluttering from balconies on each level—flags that they were going to tear down, Zafirah thought with a fierce grin.

Up on the terrace, Hideki shouted an order to his soldiers. Zafirah couldn't hear what it was over the noise of the fight. But she damn well saw what happened next: Hideki turned around and ran into the tower, six soldiers following behind him. Zafirah grabbed Kuei's sleeve.

"Did you see that?" she hissed to him, outraged.

"Yes," Kuei said grimly. "I didn't take the Captain for a coward when we dealt with him last." They weren't the only ones who'd seen Hideki flee.

"The Captain's getting away!" Quan roared. "Let's show him how we deal with cowards in the Earth Kingdom!" The rebels sent up a battle cry and charged up the steps. The soldiers who'd lined the steps stood firm at first—but not all of them had spears, and it was them against a horde of very, very angry rebels. And of course, they were all standing on stone stairs. The Earthbenders at the front of the column shook them off the steps quickly, and now they'd added another choice bit of property to the ground that Quan's troops held. The entrance to the tower was theirs.

And not a second too soon, either—a loud crack echoed across the courtyard and a plume of fire roared over their heads.

"The eclipse!" Kuei exclaimed. Zafirah shot a look at the sky and saw the sun edging out from behind the moon.

"Get us some cover!" Quan ordered. The Earthbenders leaped into action—they demolished the steps leading up to the terrace and brought up huge shields of rock around the sides of the terrace, protecting the rebels.

Quan turned, looked around at his people and gestured to ten of them standing in front of him. "All of you, there, get into that tower and get Hideki. Bring back his head if you have to! We're gonna force a surrender out of that jelly-spined dog," he ordered. Zafirah realized with a jolt that she and Kuei were in the group he'd just pointed to. So was Shen, Kuei's sparring partner.

"Sir," Shen said, "What about the rest of our people? Those walls won't hold forever."

"Don't worry about that," Quan said. "We'll hold a stalemate till you come back. Now go!" Zafirah and Kuei exchanged wary looks, and then they followed the rest of their team into the tower.

* * *

Kuei couldn't help but shiver as they walked into the tower. His last memories of the place were unpleasant, to say the least. This was where he'd been separated from his beloved Bosco; it was where his identity had been revealed and he'd nearly lost his only friends. He still didn't know what had become of his bear, a fact that pained him greatly. Nor did he know where Basam was, which hurt just as much, if not more. He remembered Quan's plan to spring the prisoners from the nearby prison, if they won the battle here. He could only hope that Basam would be there.

A quick look in Zafirah's direction showed him that she wasn't any happier than he was about coming back here. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line; her right hand tightly gripped the hilt of her dagger. He noticed that her face paint was patchy now, most of it having come off somehow. What was left was streaked with sweat.

Kuei looked around, taking stock of their situation: they stood in a circular chamber; on the left, Kuei saw the staircase that led to the upper levels of the tower. He saw now that there was a staircase behind it as well, going down beneath the floor. He wondered what they might find in the subterranean levels of the tower—perhaps a certain cowardly captain? He spotted a Fire Nation helmet a few feet from the door; had Hideki dropped it there while fleeing?

The tower was eerily silent. Light streamed through the wide windows surrounding the circular chamber; it didn't help the apprehension that had settled in Kuei's stomach, though. The stinging pain in his side didn't help matters, either.

"There's a secret exit beneath this tower," Shen said quietly, his katana held at the ready. Kuei jumped a little at the sudden sound of the teenager's voice. "Hideki might be looking for it. He might not know it's there, either, so… you five, head upstairs. The rest of you, come with me downstairs." He pointed to Kuei, Zafirah, and two other rebels whose names Kuei couldn't recall. They headed down the stairs as the other five climbed further up into the tower.

They walked right into an ambush. Hideki's six soldiers were waiting for them in the wide hallway at the bottom of the staircase. Four of them unleashed a torrent of fire that filled the passageway. Zafirah grabbed Kuei's arm and yanked him out of the way, while Shen and the other two ducked. But one of the two wasn't quick enough. She screamed in pain as the flames hit her full-force. Kuei's stomach churned at the smell of burning flesh, and his heart clenched for the unfortunate woman. They didn't have time to mourn their fallen compatriot, though.

The flames dissipated and Shen ran at the soldiers with a sharp yell, katana raised. Kuei and Zafirah followed on his heels, along with the third rebel. Luckily for them, that third rebel was an Earthbender. Her hands flew up and with a flick of her wrists, the two soldiers in front of her sank up to their waists in the stone floor.

Kuei raced towards the Firebender on the far right. The soldier kicked a fireball at Kuei's feet and he leaped over it. He could feel the heat of the flames licking at his heels. The soldier's right fist struck outward for another shot—Kuei swept his club around, caught the Firebender's wrist from beneath and knocked his hand upward. The fireball flew over Kuei's head and hit the ceiling. The soldier's left fist snapped up for an attack, but Kuei's arm met his midway in a block that would've made Shen proud. He disengaged the club from the soldier's right arm, stepped to the right and whipped it around. The club smacked across the soldier's gut, right where his breastplate ended. The Firebender gasped, slightly winded, and Kuei went for the finishing blow—only to find his attack blocked!

The soldier snarled, grabbed Kuei by the front of his shirt, and threw him against the wall of the passage. The back of his head connected painfully with the stone wall, and a stinging jolt shot through his wounded side. He started to fall forward as his knees weakened, but the Firebender held him up. The soldier drew back his fist, point-blank Firbending distance from Kuei's face. But then the soldier cried out, his limbs going slack as he fell to the ground. A spear stuck out of his back. Kuei looked up and saw Shen, who gave him a curt nod and then went back to the soldier he was fighting.

To Shen's left, he saw that Zafirah was locked in combat as well. The Earthbender was busy fighting another soldier, and the first two were still stuck in the ground…which just left the soldier in front of Kuei, who sneered and charged at him.

Kuei brought up his club, doing his best to ignore his injury and the throbbing in the back of his head. The soldier wielded a jian sword, its edges gleaming in the light of the fire blasts filling the tunnel. The soldier swung his blade in a downward stroke—Kuei blocked it, tried to disengage for an attack and couldn't. He and the soldier both glanced up; the jian's blade had bit deep into the wooden club and was stuck there. The soldier growled and yanked on his sword, and it was all Kuei could do to keep his grip on the war club. And then he couldn't keep his grip anymore and the club flew out of his hands.

The soldier yanked on the club, but it stuck firmly in place. Kuei smiled, more than a little smugly. The smile vanished when the soldier tossed the sword aside and took a fighting stance, fists raised. Kuei took a breath and mirrored it. It was time to put that training to use. Shen's words echoed in his head—taking the offensive.

Kuei feinted towards the soldier's face; the soldier went to block, leaving his side exposed. Kuei went for a kick to the soldier's ribcage—it landed! But the soldier hardly seemed to feel it, merely grunting and staggering back a step or two. And then he recovered and retaliated. Kuei matched him with blocks and counterattacks, but it was no use. The soldier was much more used to this than he was, and he had armor. Kuei was hard pressed to find vulnerable points—and his fists ached from missing and hitting the soldier's armor.

And then the Earthbender joined the fight, trapping the soldier in solid rock. Kuei nodded his gratitude to her, his throat too dry from the heat of the tunnel to speak. He looked around and saw Zafirah nearby, looking tired but unhurt. Shen hadn't fared so well. The teenager slumped against the wall, clutching a bleeding gash in his leg and sporting a burn across his torso. Kuei, Zafirah, and the Earthbender were at his side in an instant.

"Go after Hideki," the boy hissed painfully. "Get that coward back here, if he hasn't run off already." Kuei wanted to protest, but the Earthbender spoke up before he could.

"I'll bring Shen back to the others; you two go and look for the Captain," he said to Kuei.

"Oh, don't you worry," Zafirah said darkly. "If that son of a dung-sucking beetle is still here, we'll find him all right!" She grabbed Kuei's sleeve again as she stood up, dragging him upright. He shot one last look at his sparring teacher, and then the two of them picked their way past the fallen soldiers and headed off into the tunnel. Kuei grabbed his club as they went, somehow managing to disengage it from the sword. He entertained the idea of keeping the blade, but then thought better of it. He was under no illusions about his marginal skill as a warrior.

While the main passageway was fairly wide and well-lit with green crystals, the side corridors were much less so. They were quite narrow and the crystals lighting them were spaced much farther apart. He and Zafirah walked through them in tense silence, their hands on their weapons.

Their winding path led them to another main corridor eventually. As they neared the corner at the far end of it, they heard footsteps coming down the hall that intersected it. Alarmed, Kuei grabbed Zafirah's arm and pulled her into the shadows of a side corridor to their left. It was a tight fit, barely wide enough for one person to walk through. They huddled within its confines, hardly daring to breathe. Kuei craned his head to the side, peering into the dimly lit hall as the footsteps rounded the corner. And then the person walked past their hiding place. It was Hideki!

Kuei turned back to Zafirah to make sure she'd seen the Captain as well, but then he realized just how narrow the corridor was. He and Zafirah were squeezed in practically nose-to-nose, just a few inches separating their bodies. His hand was still on her arm, as well. Kuei's mouth went dry, all thoughts of the mission fleeing from his mind. All he could think about was how close she was. The green crystals from the hallway beyond them cast a soft glow on her paint-smudged face. Their eyes met and he couldn't have looked away even if he had wanted to. Her lips parted slightly, and he saw redness rising on her cheeks. Kuei was all but holding his breath now. Her chin tilted up just a little. Kuei found himself leaning forward, ever so slowly—

He jerked his head back, flustered. After taking a second to gather his wits about himself, he nodded towards the corridor. She blinked owlishly, her cheeks getting even redder as she nodded back. His heart hammered in his chest as they slipped out of the side corridor. There would be time to feel embarrassed about this later—as he undoubtedly would, he thought ruefully. He just hoped he hadn't offended her. Right now, they had a job to do.

They crept down the passageway after Hideki, following the faint sound of footsteps ahead. After a few minutes of walking, their course brought them to a small, rectangular chamber. It had wooden crates lining the walls and stacked in the middle of the space—a storeroom, perhaps. The chamber sat at the intersection of four side passageways.

Kuei saw Hideki rise up from behind a crate to Zafirah's left. "Look out!" he exclaimed. Zafirah turned, dagger drawn, but not quickly enough. The Captain knocked the blade from her hand with a well-aimed kick. She cried out in pain as his foot struck her hand. Kuei charged at the Firebender, missed his first attack, and then Hideki sent him flying back with a solid punch to the chest. He collided with the stacked crates and tumbled backward over them. The crates toppled over with him as he fell, crashing down around him. He hit the ground, pain jolting through his wounded side, and two of the crates landed on his arm and shoulder. He lay there for a moment, stunned.

The Captain whirled around as Zafirah rushed at him with a sand cloud drawn from her pouch; he met her attack with a burst of fire, forcing her to drop the cloud and dodge. Rage flared in Zafirah's eyes and she flew at him with her bare fists. She landed a punch to the Captain's chin, but her triumph was short lived. She punched again and Hideki seized her fist in midair. His other hand grabbed her shoulder and he drove his knee into her stomach. She let out a sharp gasp, the wind knocked out of her. Hideki spun her around, twisting her captured arm behind her back.

Kuei recovered and shook his head, clearing his thoughts and squirming out from under the crates. He clambered to his feet, badly bruised but without broken bones, but he was too late. Hideki took a pair of metal handcuffs from his belt and latched one side of them around Zafirah's right wrist. In the blink of an eye, he had both of her wrists cuffed.

Zafirah thrashed in his grip, then threw herself backwards at him. She knocked Hideki off-balance for a moment and ran—she barely made it three steps before he recovered. The Firebender seized the end of her braid and yanked her back, eliciting another pained cry from her. He wrapped her braid around his fist once, twice, and hauled her back against himself.

Kuei readied his club and prepared to charge again… and then Hideki whipped a small, curved knife from his belt and raised it to Zafirah's throat.

"_No!_" Kuei shouted, blind panic gripping him. He lunged forward, hand outstretched. But Hideki jerked Zafirah's head back and pressed the wickedly sharp blade against her skin. Kuei froze in place, rooted to the spot. _No, no, no, Spirits, please, no…_

"Surrender, Earth King, or the sand rat dies," Hideki said evenly.

"Kuei, don't you dare listen to him!" Zafirah snapped. Hideki yanked sharply on her braid and her voice broke off with a shriek of pain. Kuei's insides twisted at the sound, and he cursed himself for not being a strong enough fighter to defeat Hideki.

"The battle is lost, I must accept that," Hideki said to Kuei. "You and your rebels have bested my soldiers, as appalling as it may be. My reputation will be in tatters when word of this reaches the Capitol, but with you in my possession I might still be able to salvage something of my military career."

"What is it that you want, Hideki?" Kuei demanded, anger and panic swirling together in the pit of his stomach. _Spirits, please, don't take her from me…_ he begged silently. _Don't let her die at the hands of this damned coward!_

"Hand yourself over to me, as my prisoner, and I will let your sand rat go," Hideki said. "There is a Fire Nation port a few miles from here, and I know a way out of this fortress. We will return to the Fire Nation, I will present you to the Fire Lord, and then you will be publicly executed." Kuei shuddered in cold fear. Hideki paused a moment before continuing.

"If you refuse," he said, "Or try to run, I will slit her throat. Believe me when I say that I will kill her without a moment's hesitation. So, Earth King, what will it be?"

"Kuei, don't—" Zafirah ground out. Hideki pulled on her braid again.

"Another word out of you and you'll lose an ear," he told her firmly. She paled beneath her smudged face paint and clenched her jaw.

Kuei's eyes met Zafirah's—they were wide with a mix of fear and fury. An image flashed through his mind of those bright, vibrant eyes going blank and empty, of that dagger cutting deep and her blood spilling—

"I surrender," he said bluntly. It was an easy choice, mainly because it wasn't a choice at all. Letting Zafirah die was simply not an option.

The faintest flicker of a sneer crossed Hideki's face and he turned to look at his captive. "Did you hear that, Sandbender? Do you understand what has just transpired? I hope that you do; I hope that your savage mind can comprehend this. He's just traded his own life for yours. Do you understand that? A king has sacrificed himself for a dirty, barbaric, worthless—"

"She is worth a _hundred_ of you, Hideki!" Kuei shouted, clenching his fists. Zafirah's eyes widened. "I've already surrendered, you'll get what you want, now _let her go!_"

"Oh, I don't think so. Not quite yet. She's going to accompany us for a while, to ensure your cooperation," Hideki said coldly. "Now kindly drop your weapon, step in front of me and walk down the corridor to your left. Kuei glanced over at it—it was the other side of the wider passageway that had led them here. With a heavy heart, he let the club fall to the ground and headed into the tunnel.

It was dark in the corridor; the crystal nearest to the threshold had been broken at some point, leaving very little light. But there was one thing he saw quite clearly, despite the darkness: there were people in the passageway. He sucked in a breath, tentative hope springing up in his chest. He could just make out vague, shadowed forms hiding against the wall of the corridor, though he couldn't have said how many. He hesitated—who were these people?

"Why aren't you walking?" Hideki demanded. Kuei thought quickly and then made his decision.

"I've surrendered to the enemy and now I'm headed off to my death. You'll have to excuse my reluctance," he said sardonically. He walked cautiously into the tunnel. Whoever these mysterious people were, surely they couldn't make this situation any worse than it already was. Hideki followed, and they made it about five steps into the tunnel before everything changed again.

Kuei heard the clank of metal against metal and a sharp yell from Hideki. He spun around, just in time to see the Captain reel back from the shadowed form of a man. Whatever the mysterious person had done, it was enough to make the dagger fall from Hideki's grasp. Kuei flung himself at Hideki with a furious shout, pulled the Firebender away from Zafirah, and tackled him into the wall. Hideki grunted as his head struck the stone. Kuei pulled back his fist and punched the man right in the nose. It broke with a crack and pain throbbed in Kuei's knuckles.

Kuei stumbled back, feeling a surge of shock at what he'd just done—he'd broken a man's nose! But he pushed it aside, knowing that their job still wasn't done. And then two more shadowed figures stepped away from the passage wall and took charge of Hideki, grabbing his arms and pulling him back towards the chamber. Kuei let them take him; they couldn't have been on Hideki's side, if they'd allowed such an attack on his person. Kuei had another problem to worry about.

He found Zafirah in the darkness of the tunnel and gently grabbed her shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said shakily. He guided her back into the chamber. As soon as they stepped back into the light, they both froze in astonishment.

"Hey, you two," Basam said with a grin. There was dead silence for a moment, and then Zafirah shrieked and threw herself at him, handcuffs be damned. Basam pulled her into a tight hug as she broke down and sobbed into his chest. Kuei smiled, warmth bubbling up inside him, and went to fetch the handcuff keys from Hideki. He freed her arms and she immediately wrapped them around her brother, hugging him as though afraid that he might vanish again.

At long last, Zafirah pulled back from Basam. She wiped her eyes and looked up at him, searching his face. "How did you—what happened?" she asked breathlessly. Then she squinted at him. "And why are you dressed like that?" Basam's grin widened.

"We used the eclipse to break out of jail!" he exclaimed. "Oh, by the way, that's Linh over there." He gestured to a middle-aged woman with thin, black hair and pale skin. "And that's, uh… I don't know her name, actually. She's a spy for those people that attacked the convoy."

"Sorry to break this reunion short," the spy said, "But there's work to be done. I assume Quan is waiting for this scum's capture?"

"That's right," Kuei agreed. He turned to Zafirah and held out the handcuffs. "Care to do the honors?"

"Pleasure's all mine," she said with a toothy grin. "But first…" She walked over to where Hideki stood, held firmly in the grasps of Basam's two companions, and kicked him hard in the stomach. "That's for pulling my hair, bastard," she spat.

As they left the chamber, Basam grabbed Kuei into a lung-crushing hug, clapping him firmly on the back. "It's great to see you, Kuei," he said cheerfully.

"You too," Kuei gasped. "Side… hurt…" Basam released him and cringed at the sight of Kuei's blood-stained tunic.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

* * *

Quan spun around when the group emerged from the tower, and did a double take upon seeing the three extra people. Kuei almost smiled at the bewildered look on his face.

"Where in the world did you—never mind. Whatever this is, it'll have to wait," he growled. He took the handcuffed Hideki from them and pointed a dagger at his neck. "You, _Captain_, are going to do a little something for us," he hissed. Hideki remained silent, his eyes fixed straight ahead. The rock shield fell at a gesture from Quan. He pulled his captive forward to the front of the terrace at the top of what used to be the stairs. Daiyu stepped up and stood alongside her commander.

"Soldiers, we have your Captain!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to be heard. An uneasy hush fell over the Fire Nation troops. Quan whispered something to Hideki, but the Firebender staunchly shook his head. The rebel leader pushed the knife against the Firebender's throat and he caved.

"Lay down your arms!" Hideki yelled hoarsely. "This battle is over. I surrender!"

* * *

**So there we have it, the day of the solar eclipse! I hope you enjoyed it! Please do tell me your thoughts on it. The next chapter will be an Interlude, covering the post-battle stuff. I was planning on having it in this chapter, but the chapter was just getting too long and unwieldy, so I decided to end it here.**

**Playlist:**

**1. **"**Let's War", The Plastic Constellations—Chapter theme for Ch14.**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=gnYzG0jRlZM**

**2. **"**Grindhouse" [Planet Terror]—Assault on the fortress.**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=O_xAN46VAA8**

**3. **"**Fearless", Jay Chou—Assault on the fortress.**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=FQqADormvZw**

**4. **"**Battling the Green Death" [How to Train Your Dragon]—The assault continues, and inside the tower.**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=tIXu45PkbKA**

**And the entire How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack. ILU, John Powell! You should have won that Academy Award.**


	17. Nightfall Interlude

**Here's all the aftermath of the battle. Oh and check this out! My beta Quantumreality wrote a little oneshot fic to go along with this chapter. It pairs up Basam and that spy lady from the prison. :D Warning for adult content and suchlike.**

**http : / / quantumreality. deviantart. com /art/ Even -Spies -Have -Fun -208156518**

**As always, many many thanks to me lovely betas. You are both awesome! I'd thank my reviewers, but there weren't any for Chapter 14. :P So I'll thank my lurking readers instead. ;)**

* * *

**INTERLUDE—NIGHTFALL AND SUNRISE**

And so the Day of Black Sun ended. The fortress was theirs, and the prisoners of the jail had been released—though not by the rebels, as Quan had planned. Hideki was their captive, though his fate hadn't been decided yet. The uninjured Fire Nation soldiers fled the base; the wounded ones were patched up along with the injured rebels. Quan hadn't initially liked the idea of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He'd relented after Daiyu pointed out that letting wounded men suffer would make them no better than the Fire Nation.

The rebels not tending to the wounded set about searching the base for supplies. Kuei hadn't wanted to go back into that tower, so he'd volunteered to help with the injuries—after getting his own wounds tended to, of course. Zafirah had volunteered as well, as had Basam.

Of course, what he really wanted was to sleep. Kuei was exhausted—he was sore all over, his skin felt sticky from dried sweat, and his various cuts and bruises ached. Looking around, he could tell he wasn't the only one: the Sandbender twins both looked like they were struggling to keep going; the rebels passing by their work area all looked bone-weary as well. But there was still work to be done, and they had the thrill of victory to keep them on their feet a while longer.

The three of them were working side by side when he heard it—a loud roar echoing across the courtyard. He leaped to his feet and turned around. Joy flooded through him at the sight of a familiar mass of brown fur lumbering through the crowded courtyard.

"Bosco!" he cried. He broke into a sprint, weaving around people until he reached the bear's side. He flung his arms around the animal's neck and buried his face in Bosco's thick fur, tears welling up in his eyes. Bosco roared happily. Kuei looked up and saw Daiyu nearby, her arms folded and a smile on her face. "Thank you for finding him," Kuei said.

"Glad to help," she said, chuckling. She turned and walked off. Kuei hugged his bear again.

"I missed you so much, my friend," he murmured.

* * *

Once the most serious injuries had been tended to, the rebels had one more important task: bringing down the Fire Nation banners that draped the tower. They all gathered in the courtyard for the big moment, cheering as the flags fell to the ground. Now it was official—the fortress was truly theirs.

Zafirah wove her way through to the front of the crowd and knelt by the flags. Kuei followed her, more than a little confused. He became even more puzzled when he saw her cutting a long strip of red cloth from one of the banners. She stood up, tucked her dagger away, and tied the cloth around her upper arm.

"You're taking a trophy?" Kuei asked, bemused.

"You're damned right, I'm taking a trophy!" she said with a sharp grin. Kuei chuckled and shook his head.

* * *

The rebels made camp in the fortress that night. They'd claimed the soldiers' barracks for their own use. Kuei was rather looking forward to having an actual bed again, even if it was just a simple, wood-frame cot.

And they'd found his Water Tribe war club in the armory, along with the twins' belongings. Kuei and Basam had immediately gone off to the washrooms to take turns with the shaving kit. Linh said that soldiers often claimed the personal effects of prisoners, but apparently none of the soldiers had wanted the twins' things. _I imagine they thought themselves too good to wear a Sandbender's clothes,_ Kuei thought derisively.

The washrooms had baths, too. The rebels had fired up the fortress's water boilers, and they'd all taken turns enjoying brief, but warm, baths. And then Kuei had gotten another treat, as well—fresh clothes. The rebels had found a few crates of Earth Kingdom uniforms—leftovers from the ousted Earth Kingdom soldiers—stored beneath the tower. They handed them out to anyone who needed new clothes. Kuei now wore a green, sleeveless tunic with a brown belt and a pair of brown pants. They were a little too big for him, but he hardly cared. And he had two sandals this time.

Kuei rejoined his two friends back in the courtyard after his bath. The twins had a clean change of clothes, as well, from their belongings. Basam seemed quite glad to be rid of his stolen Fire Nation disguise. He noticed that they'd both made a few alterations to their Sandbender garb. They'd shed a few layers of cloth from their arm wraps; the cloth that had draped around their shoulders was gone; and their leg wraps now ended at the ankle, instead of coming down to wrap around the middles of their feet.

Now the three of them sat around one of several campfires out in the courtyard. They'd made a celebratory feast out of the troops' food stores. They had spicy roasted meat, fresh vegetables, and a seemingly endless supply of tea. Bosco huddled behind Kuei, gnawing on a slab of cured meat. Zafirah sat to Kuei's right, leaning against Bosco's flank. Basam sat next to her; the siblings had been all but glued to each other's side all evening.

Shen sat at the fire as well, resting from his wounds. Kuei had been relieved to find the teenager alive after the battle. And now the spy wandered over to their group, wearing her own change of clothes—a simple, green and brown tunic with brown pants. She sat down across from Basam.

"It's so good to be out of that uniform," she said with a deep sigh. Basam looked over at her with open curiosity.

"So, do I get to know your name now?" he asked teasingly.

"It's Suyin," she replied with a smirk. Linh joined them as well, sitting down next to the spy. She, too, had gotten some fresh clothes from the rebels. She smiled and nodded to the group as she settled down.

"Hey, there you are!" Basam said. "I was just about to tell these guys about our daring and heroic jailbreak. You were great back there, by the way! It was mostly her idea, you know. We never would've made it out without all her knowledge about jails," he added to Kuei and Zafirah.

Linh chuckled. "It was a joint effort, you could say," she agreed. Then she glanced down at her new shirt, looking thoughtful. "I must say, I've never worn green before. I could grow to like it, though."

"Yeah?" Basam asked. "You're gonna stick around here, then?"

"Yes. Quan has agreed to let me join his band of rebels. He says that having a Firebender on their side could prove advantageous."

Basam grinned widely. "That's great! Glad to hear it."

Linh lifted her chopsticks and took a bite of roasted meat from her bowl. She chewed slowly, a contented smile on her face. "This is quite good. This Captain Hideki must have had a fair bit of influence, to get these supplies for his troops."

"I know, right?" Basam gushed. "So nice to have real food again! I mean, those prison rations weren't as bad as they could've been but, y'know… still prison rations." He took an enthusiastic mouthful of rice and meat, washing it down with tea.

Zafirah leaned sideways and nudged her brother. "So, let's hear about this jailbreak." Basam gladly launched into a very enthusiastic retelling of the tale, gesturing wildly. Kuei sat back and listened happily, sipping a cup of rice wine from the fortress's stores. He had his friends back, and their eclipse plan had been a total success. They had won a great victory for the Earth Kingdom today. For the first time since arriving at the fortress a month ago, he felt truly content.

* * *

As the night wore on, people drifted off to the barracks one by one. Eventually, only Kuei and the Sandbender twins sat by their dwindling fire. The three of them huddled close around the flames, drinking tea. Kuei looked at both of them; he studied their faces and relished in the simple joy of their presence.

Basam spoke after a while, just as Kuei's eyelids were starting to grow heavy. "So what happens now?" he asked idly. Kuei leaned back against Bosco's shoulder, frowning a little.

"I hadn't really thought about that," he admitted. He looked at his two friends again, suddenly worried. What if they wanted to part ways with him now? The thought was like a physical blow. They'd just reunited! He couldn't imagine leaving them now. He shifted uncomfortably, wincing at his bruises.

"I guess we keep traveling, right?" Basam mused. "Go off and wander wherever the wind takes us, that kind of thing."

"What about your home? The desert?" Kuei prompted.

"Well, our shop's probably been ransacked by now, so no use in going back there. Besides, the oasis'll still be deserted," Zafirah said, shuddering. A look of sadness crossed her face, but she pushed it away. "So we'll just keep goin'."

"Just the two of you?" Kuei asked hesitantly.

She shrugged and glanced down at her bare feet suddenly. "Well, I was kinda thinkin' that maybe we could keep traveling together. All three of us."

Basam leaned forward and raised one pointed finger. "When I said 'we', I meant the three of us. If you want to go off on your own, though, I guess that's fine."

A wide smile crossed Kuei's face. "I'd love to continue traveling with you," he said.

"Really?" Zafirah asked, sitting upright.

"Yes, of course!" he said, nodding vigorously. Zafirah grinned.

"Good answer," she said. The three of them fell silent again.

Zafirah glanced back over at Kuei after a minute or two. "This is gonna take some gettin' used to, y'know," she commented. "This whole thing with you being the Earth King."

"But you do intend to stay around long enough to get used to it?" Kuei prompted hopefully.

There was an almost shy quality to Zafirah's smile. "That seems to be the notion," she agreed.

Now it was Kuei's turn to grin. "That's fantastic," he said. Basam looked back and forth between them, an odd look on his face, and coughed rather pointedly. "What is it?" Kuei asked, puzzled.

Basam smirked at him. "Oh, nothin'," he said lightly. He gave a loud yawn and stretched his arms above his head. "Well, it's been an awfully long day. I'm dead tired. I think I'm gonna call it a night. See you two in the morning!" He stood up, waved to them, and walked off towards one of the barracks.

Kuei glanced at Zafirah, sitting next to him and leaning against Bosco. She turned her head to look at him. The corner of her mouth turned up in a half smile, and he smiled back.

"What a day, huh?" she commented.

"Yes," he agreed, chuckling a bit at the understatement. She gazed into the dying flames of the campfire, looking lost in thought. Kuei wondered if she was thinking about the confrontation in the storage room—or perhaps, about that moment in the tunnel. He certainly was. Both events had been swirling through his mind all evening. The memory of that confrontation still made him shiver; he'd come so close to losing her down there. And the incident in the corridor… well, part of him wished he hadn't pulled away. The sensible part of him knew otherwise. It wouldn't have been right, kissing her in the heat of battle. Or at least, that was what he was telling himself.

"Y'know, there's one thing you still haven't told me," she said softly.

"What is that?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"How you really ended up in the desert. I know about the Fire Nation taking over Ba Sing Se, but how'd you get here from there?" she asked. Kuei sucked in a breath. He'd known that they would come to this moment.

"It's a long story," he murmured.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I could sleep yet, anyway. I'm all wound up," she said. She shifted sideways so that she faced him.

"All right, then." He took another breath, and then began. "It all started, really, after the death of my father. As I told you, I took the crown at the age of four. My father, the previous Earth King, had died of an illness. But because I was too young to rule, I was appointed an advisor to rule in my stead until I grew up. His name was Long Feng…"

And so he told her everything. He told her of Long Feng's manipulation, of his tight control over every aspect of Kuei's life. He told her of the way Long Feng kept him in the dark on political matters and how he filled the naïve boy's head with frivolities—how he'd kept young Kuei busy with minor matters related to the cultural aspects of running the city. He told her of meeting the Avatar, of learning about the war and the eclipse, and of leaving the palace for the first time in his life. He told her about the brainwashing and the conspiracies; he told her about Azula's infiltration of the city and how she seized control of the Dai Li. And finally, he told her about his decision to leave the Avatar's group and travel the Earth Kingdom in disguise, so that he could learn more about his people.

"I must sound awfully weak to you," Kuei murmured bitterly. "It's my fault that Ba Sing Se fell. If I had been more vigilant, if I hadn't been so blind…"

Zafirah stared incredulously at him. "What, are you kidding? Look, maybe you were too gullible in the past, but that doesn't mean you're weak. It just means you're gullible. Look at everything you did today! Those're not the actions of a weak man. You saved my life—_again!_" she insisted.

He smiled thinly. He wished he could be as certain of it as she was. "Thank you," he said. And then he sat bolt upright suddenly. "The invasion! Oh, Spirits, that was supposed to have been today!"

"What invasion?" Zafirah asked.

"Before I left the Avatar's group, his friends told me that they were going to revise our invasion plan for the solar eclipse. They still wanted to launch an attack on the Fire Nation capitol, but with a smaller group, obviously. They had some friends and allies that they were planning on finding to help them out. I wonder if they went through with it." Unease rose up within him again. Zafirah patted his arm comfortingly.

"Tell you what, we'll ask about it at the next town we get to. If there's been any news about the war, I'm sure we'll hear it there," she suggested.

Kuei sighed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "All right," he agreed. "I suppose that's all we can do, really."

"Exactly," Zafirah agreed. Then she sighed and glanced at the fire again. "Well, it's getting late. Let's get some rest. We got all kinds of adventure waiting for us tomorrow!" she said with a grin.

"Indeed," he agreed happily. The two of them stood up. "You'll have to stay out here, Bosco," Kuei added to his bear. Bosco growled sleepily. Zafirah smiled fondly and patted the bear's head.

"It's good to have you back, Furball," she said. She put out the remains of the fire and then they walked to the barracks. The three of them had managed to get three cots side by side. Basam was already sound asleep in his cot, his brown hair untied and strewn over his face. Zafirah chuckled at the sight as she sat down on her own cot. She unwrapped her arm and leg bindings, rolling them up and tucking them in with her belongings.

"Good night," she whispered to Kuei. Then she smiled at him. "This is gonna be fun, traveling together again."

"Yes, it certainly will be. Good night, Zafirah," he whispered back.

* * *

Exhausted though he was, Kuei simply couldn't fall asleep. His mind was buzzing with the promise of new adventures to come. He truly hadn't given much thought to what would happen after the eclipse. He'd said as much to the twins earlier, and he'd meant it. But now the eclipse was over, and tomorrow, he and his friends would depart. He had no idea where they might go, but he wasn't terribly worried about it. Wherever they ended up, at least they would be there together. The thought of it filled him with warmth.

And there was another thought foremost in his mind, as well: Zafirah. Once again, images of the day's events flashed through his mind's eye. His stomach churned at the mental image of the dagger against her dark skin. It had been amazingly easy to trade himself over to Hideki for her sake. He liked to think that he'd have done the same for Basam, or even Shen. What sort of person would allow a friend die for their own survival? He couldn't have lived with himself if that had happened. But he knew there was more to it than that. Basam was his friend, true, and he owed Shen quite a lot for all the training. But Zafirah was different, because, well…

Zafirah was different because she'd stolen his heart. His experience with women was minimal, to put it mildly, but if this wasn't what falling in love felt like, then he couldn't imagine what would. The happiness he felt whenever she was near, the way she could reassure him with a touch on the arm or a smile, the way her bravery inspired his own—and of course, the more physical desire elicited by her smile, or the gleam of her eye, or the curve of her hips.

He rolled onto his side to glance over at Zafirah's cot. She was stretched out on the thin mattress, her face just visible in the faint moonlight falling through the window above her. He smiled at the sight and wished fervently that he could take her in his arms. He felt his face redden at the thought of sharing a bed with her, and possibly sharing more than that…

Before the eclipse, he'd opted not to tell her of his growing feelings for her. He'd had the chance, on that night when they'd both apologized to each other. He'd told himself that it was the wrong moment. Perhaps he'd been right about that; or perhaps he should have taken the risk and told her anyway. Either way, the eclipse was over and he and his friends were out of harm's way for the time being.

_Maybe it's time to take that chance, _he thought. There was only one problem: he had no idea how to court a woman. He'd read stories about love in books and scrolls, and he'd watched noblemen courting elegant ladies at the parties he hosted. _How very helpful_, he thought dryly. He'd had very little opportunity to speak to girls his own age as a boy—and on the few occasions that he had, shyness had taken over. And Long Feng had done all he could to discourage Kuei as well. It hadn't seemed like it at the time, but now he recognized the manipulation. Whenever Kuei had gone to the older man for sympathy about an unrequited crush, Long Feng would tell him that kings couldn't allow themselves to be distracted by matters of the heart. Kuei suspected that the older man had feared the influence that a young woman might have had on him—that she might have interfered with Long Feng's plans.

_So here I am,_ Kuei thought. _I've fallen for a lovely, courageous, daring woman, and I haven't the faintest clue how to do anything about it._ Nevertheless, he had to try. He was determined to prove himself worthy of her affections. He took one last look at Zafirah's sleeping form before exhaustion overtook him. He closed his eyes and drifted off.

* * *

The three of them were up bright and early the next morning, along with the rebels. They quickly gathered their belongings and packed everything up. Kuei smiled to himself as he strapped the Water Tribe war club to his belt. It felt good to have the club's familiar weight against his hip again. He might not have been a particularly skilled warrior, but it was comforting to know that he had a means of defending himself—it reminded him that he wasn't as helpless as he had once been.

At breakfast, they found Quan sitting with Daiyu and told the two rebels of their intention to depart.

"When do you plan on leaving?" Quan asked.

"This afternoon, preferably. We can stay and help you clean up the base, if you'd like," Kuei said.

"Yeah," Zafirah agreed. "We helped make this mess, after all." Quan waved her off.

"Nah, that's fine. We have it covered. You three go and have your fun," he said gruffly. "Besides, most of the cleanup's going to be Earthbending. Last I checked, Sandbender, you still weren't much good at it. No offense." Zafirah rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward slightly.

Nevertheless, they did stay a while to help with the wounded again. By midday, they were ready to depart. Quan provisioned them with food, money, three sleeping bags, and two tents taken from the tower.

And then Kuei, Zafirah, Basam and Bosco stood in front of the base, on the same road

that had led them there a month ago. They planned on following it along the coast, northwest of the fortress. Daiyu, Linh, and Suyin had come with them to say goodbye. Shen was there, too, leaning on his crutches.

"Thanks for everything, Daiyu," Zafirah said, pulling the other woman into a fierce hug.

"You're welcome, Zafirah. You'll remember everything I showed you? And practice your Earthbending?" Daiyu asked.

"I will," Zafirah promised.

Daiyu placed her hands on Zafirah's shoulders. "You keep at it, and I have a feeling you'll turn out to be a very good Earthbender," she said.

"Just 'very good'?" Zafirah asked with a smirk. Daiyu chuckled.

"No one's perfect," she joked. She turned to Kuei next. "It was an honor to have met you, Your Highness. I know you think I shouldn't say that—I can see the self-doubt in your eyes. I saw it the last time I said that, too, when we first met. I want you to know that you have people who believe in you, even if you don't. But I hope you'll learn to believe in yourself, anyway."

Kuei smiled, warmed by her words. "Thank you, Daiyu. It was an honor to have met you, as well, and to have fought by your side." Then he turned to Shen and smiled fondly at the wounded teen.

"You did good here, Kuei," Shen said, smiling back at him.

"Thanks to you," Kuei replied.

"Yeah, well, you learn quickly. Anyway, it was nice knowing you. Keep out of trouble, yeah?"

"I'll do my best, but I make no promises," Kuei said lightly. He held out his hand to the boy. Shen shifted on his crutches and reached out his own hand, grasping Kuei's forearm. Kuei returned the gesture.

Off to his left, Basam was saying goodbye to his two jailbreak partners. He and Linh hugged tightly. Kuei noticed that he actually looked a little teary-eyed.

"You take care of yourself, okay?" Basam said to her.

"I will, and you as well. Maybe the Spirits will let our paths cross again someday," Linh said.

"I'd like that a lot," Basam said fervently. And then, impulsively, he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled brightly.

"It's been a long time since I got a kiss from a handsome young man," she teased. Basam grinned and patted the back of her hand.

"Anything for you, Linh," he said with a laugh. Then he turned to Suyin, who smirked at him.

"My turn," she said. She grabbed the front of Basam's tunic, yanked him forward, and kissed him hard on the mouth. He stumbled back from her when she released him, red-faced and more than a little stunned. Suyin cleared her throat and brushed invisible dust off of her shirt. "Just had to get that out of my system," she said.

"Heh," Basam laughed weakly, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. Suyin lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers in a little wave, and then turned and walked back towards the base. Zafirah grinned and punched Basam's upper arm lightly.

The three of them waved one last goodbye to their friends. Then they turned and started off down the road. Kuei looked at the Sandbender twins and at Bosco, and felt another crest of joy well up within him. He had the whole Earth Kingdom ahead of him, his best friends by his side, and he was eagerly looking forward to the days that lay ahead of them.

* * *

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please do tell me your thoughts! I have some fun things planned for the next two chapters. Chapter 16 in particular promises to be pretty awesome. :D**

**Playlist:**

**1. **"**Life is a Highway", Rascal Flatts—This is really the theme song for the fanfic as a whole, actually. I was waiting for the opportune moment to introduce it, and this seemed like the time.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com/ watch ?v=QM88kxxMlhQ**

**2. **"**Something That I Want" [Tangled]—Chapter theme. (This song works so well for Kuei and Zafi, and it works especially well if you swap the genders in the first verse and the chorus: "He's a man with the best intentions/ She's a girl of her own invention {etc}". Here's the lyrics so you can see for yourself!)**

**http : / / www. youtube. com/ watch ?v=emlPJhmRAfI**

**http : / / www. stlyrics. com/ lyrics/ tangled/ somethingthatiwant. htm**


	18. Chapter 15

**I like this chapter a lot. This is a fun chapter.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15—WANDERING**

_The next day…_

"Oh, look at this!" Kuei exclaimed.

Zafirah glanced over her shoulder at him. "What is it?" she asked. He ran over to her and her brother, beaming from ear to ear. He had his hands cupped in front of his chest.

"I found a blue jade beetlefly," he said. He cracked open his hands and held them out to the twins. Zafirah leaned forward to get a better look; crawling on Kuei's left palm was a brilliantly colored bug about the size of her thumb. Its wings gleamed in the bright sunlight.

"It sure is pretty," she commented.

"Very shiny," Basam agreed.

"They're somewhat rare, really," Kuei went on proudly. "And they're such fascinating creatures. They make nests, like birds do, and they actually care for their newborn offspring. Very few insects do that, you know. I've read all about them in books, of course, but here's one in the wild! And I found it crawling on a White Dragon bush, if you can believe it! It's too bad we don't have a teapot on hand. White Dragon tea is said to be the most delicious in the world. Or perhaps it was a White Jade bush…"

Zafirah couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. She'd never seen anyone get so excited about bugs before. Sandbenders didn't pay them much mind, usually, except for killing the poisonous ones when they got too close. He noticed her smiling and his eyebrows quirked up a bit.

"What is it?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Most people'd just see a bug. You see somethin' special in it," she commented. That was what she found so fascinating about him—the war had left just about everyone jaded and unhappy; but here was Kuei, getting all excited over bugs. It was like he had a spark of joy inside him that the Fire Nation couldn't quite stamp out, no matter how hard they'd been trying lately. "So you read a lot of books about bugs, huh?" she asked.

"Yes, among other things," Kuei agreed. "I had a veritable army of tutors when I was a boy. Science, math, philosophy, nature, and so on." Zafirah whistled. Kuei looked a little uncomfortable with the topic, though, so he changed it. "Would you like to take a closer look at the beetlefly?"

Zafirah glanced at the thing with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, I don't know about that. I don't mind bugs, but that doesn't mean I like 'em," she said.

"It's quite harmless," Kuei assured her. "Just give me your hand." His smile was so wide and eager, she couldn't bring herself to say no. The word 'adorable' came to mind, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her thoughts. _He's the Earth King, he's off limits,_ she thought sternly. Still, there wasn't anything wrong with entertaining his nerdy love of strange critters.

"Sure, okay," she said, holding out her open palm. Kuei grinned and placed the bug onto her hand. "Oh, it tickles!" Zafirah squeaked as its tiny feet brushed over her skin. Basam laughed, so she held it out to him next.

"Ooh, wow, it does tickle! Man, that feels weird," Basam said with another laugh. He handed the bug back to Kuei, who gently placed it on the low-hanging branch of a nearby tree. The three of them kept walking while Bosco plodded along next to them. The bear was carrying some of their supplies for them now; back at the fortress, they'd found a pair of saddlebags large enough for Bosco's wide back. They'd probably been used for one of those rhino beasts the Fire Nation had. Now the bear lugged their food supplies and their tents. He hardly seemed to notice the weight.

Zafirah took a deep breath of the warm summer air. It was awfully nice, just walking along with her companions, without the threat of a fight with the Fire Nation hanging over their heads. And it was so lovely here, too. The road followed the coast, heading northwest of the fortress. Mountains rose up on their right, and on their left the cliffs dropped away to the ocean below. She gazed out over the water, enjoying the shine of it. _That's a sight I'll never get tired of,_ she thought happily. All in all, it was a pretty great place to be.

Kuei seemed to be enjoying it, too. He was more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. It was like he was suddenly at ease in the world. It was a nice change, she thought. She kept shooting sideways looks at him, and he was always busily examining something or other—plants growing alongside the road, more bugs, birds, various little beasties scurrying around in the underbrush.

He laid a hand on her arm suddenly and beckoned her over to the side of the road. "Look at that! It's a dragonfly," he said. Basam followed them as they walked over to the spot. Bosco growled curiously and sat down behind them. Kuei pointed excitedly into the forest, but Zafirah didn't see anything. "Oh, it's gone into the shade… wait, there it is!" A long, green creature flew into a patch of light between two trees. It was scaly like a lizard, but it had two sets of bug-like wings on its back.

"Huh!" Basam exclaimed. Zafirah let out a laugh at the sight of the creature.

"Now that is a strange little animal. I like it," she decided. Kuei beamed at her again.

"As do I. It's good fun, watching them fly," he said. It was, too—the thing sort of wiggled its way through the air, twisting and rolling about. Zafirah chuckled and watched it until it disappeared into the shade again. Kuei made a humming sound and rubbed his chin. "I must admit, looking back, I'm somewhat disappointed that I didn't see any buzzard-wasps in the Si Wong. From what I've read, they seem like interesting animals," he said off-handedly.

Zafirah smirked wryly. "Oh, trust me, Kuei, it's a good thing you didn't see any. Never a good sign, buzzard-wasps showing up."

"Ah. Oh, yes, I remember—they're scavengers," he said, wincing.

"Yep," she agreed.

In the late afternoon, the road started to slope downhill. The cliffs got lower as they walked, taking them down to the level of the ocean. They reached the bottom of the cliffs and the road led them into the shrubby forest bordering the shore.

"Aha!" Kuei's excited yell made Zafirah and Basam stop and look at him. He darted off to a tree off to his right, reaching up into its branches.

"What'd you find this time?" Basam asked. Kuei came back with his hands full of round, pale yellow fruits.

"Moon peaches," he announced. Zafirah's eyes went wide as plates. Fresh fruit wasn't something they got much of in the desert. She snatched one from the pile and held it up in delight. Its thin, fuzzy skin felt soft under her fingertips—that meant it was ripe, she remembered. She sniffed it and sighed at the sweet smell.

"I know what we're havin' for dinner tonight," she said with a grin. Bosco growled happily.

* * *

They picked as many of the peaches as they could reach, stuffing them into their packs. Once they'd run out of room, they set off again. As sunset approached, they picked a spot just off the road to set up their camp.

Dinner that night was delicious—they feasted on moon peaches, plus fresh roasted meat and vegetables from their newly-restocked supplies.

"Here's to Quan, huh?" Zafirah said, hoisting her water flask in a toast. "He may have been kind of a jerk, but he was certainly generous with those supplies."

Basam laughed and raised his flask. "I'll drink to that," he said. Kuei raised his flask as well, smiling. Zafirah grabbed another peach from the pile and bit into it exuberantly. Kuei found his eyes drawn to the glimmer of wetness on her lips, and to the trickle of juice that slid over her lower lip and down her chin. He was sorely tempted to reach out and brush it away. Then she wiped it away with the back of her hand and the moment passed.

"I could eat these every day," she said dreamily after swallowing a bite. Kuei gave himelf a mental shake and turned his attention to his own unfinished peach. He took the last bite of the sweet, tangy fruit and set the pit aside.

"They've always been a favorite of mine," he said by way of agreement. "There was this time when I was about thirteen and the head cook had gotten in a couple crates full of them. I ate so many that I was sick for days afterwards. It was ages before I could stand the thought of eating another one." He chuckled and shook his head. Zafirah snorted and grinned widely.

"Yeah, well, at least you got a bunch of 'em. I can't even remember the last time I had these," she said ruefully.

"I think I do," Basam said. "It was about… three years ago, midsummer, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Then a huge grin split her face. "Hey, that was the same summer we had that thief, remember?"

Basam chortled. "Right, him! Oh, wow, was that guy ever stupid."

"What thief?" Kuei asked. Zafirah shifted to face him, her eyes twinkling.

"We had this guy who kept coming into the shop one summer, right? And every time, he kept trying to steal stuff. He wasn't very bright about it, though, so we caught him before he could even get out the door. Except one day he came in while I was talkin' with another buyer. From the corner of my eye I saw him grab a sheathed dagger, shove it down the front of his pants, and walk right out! I ran after him and caught up to him pretty quick. I grabbed him by the arm and we both nearly fell over, but I kept my footing and hauled him in. So this son of a beetle decided he was gonna try to lie to me, right to my face! He says, 'What're you talkin' about, little girl, I ain't stealin' no dagger!'" She lowered her voice, imitating a man's gruff tones. "And then the dagger slides down his pants-leg and falls out onto the ground!"

Kuei laughed along with the twins. Once their laughter had died down, Zafirah turned to Kuei with an expectant look and bumped her knee against his.

"So, how about you? Got any funny stories to tell?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I've never been very good at telling stories," Kuei said.

"Aww, c'mon! I bet you've got plenty of good tales," Basam said, nudging him with an elbow to the side. Kuei took a sip from his water flask, considering.

"Well," he started slowly, "There was this one incident, when I first got Bosco… He was just a little cub at the time. And, well, one day he chewed the corner of a rug in the main dinner hall. And there was an important dinner scheduled for that night—some noblemen from the Upper Ring were coming to discuss a business venture. They were brothers, you see, and it was their family's business. I don't recall what it was, though. I think it had something to do with importing fabrics…"

Zafirah cleared her throat, an amused smirk on her face. Kuei flushed and went on. "So, yes, the rug. I, um…" He paused and chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "There was this large, ornamental vase by the door, and I dragged it over and sat it on top of the torn part."

"Oh, I bet this doesn't end well," Zafirah said with a snicker.

Kuei smiled sheepishly. "Ha, indeed. Well, the dinner was about to begin, and the two noblemen came into the hall. They saw the vase and, uh… I told them that it was part of an ancient ritual for good luck."

"And what'd the fancy nobles say to that?" Basam asked.

"They didn't believe a word of it, of course. Long Feng called a servant to move it—he was there too, naturally—and when it was moved, well, they saw the chewed area."

"And?" Zafirah prompted him.

"And as it happened, the rug had been a gift to my father… from those two noblemen," Kuei said. The twins both laughed at that. Then a slight frown crossed Zafirah's face and she leaned forward.

"Speaking of stories," she began, her voice slightly tentative, "I think you ought to tell Basam what you told me. So we're all on the same page."

Kuei nodded, though somewhat reluctantly. It wasn't a story he enjoyed telling much, but he knew that both of his friends deserved to know the entire truth. So he told Basam everything that he'd told Zafirah at the fortress, the night after the battle. Once he had finished, Basam sat in thought for a long moment. Finally, he smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for telling me," he said softly. Then he cleared his throat and his smile widened. "So where're we headed next? Do we have any place in mind?" he asked.

"Hmm." Kuei pulled out his battered map and studied it.

"I say we just hang out at the beach for a few days," Zafirah suggested.

Basam sighed happily. "That does sound nice," he agreed.

"All right, beach time it is, then," Kuei said with a smile. With that decided, the three of them cleaned up the remnants of their dinner and settled down to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Zafi?" Basam said as they walked along the road the next morning.

"Yeah?" Zafirah replied idly.

"I think our birthday was last week."

"What, really? Wait, no…" She trailed off, counting on her fingers. "Huh, I'll be damned. It _was _last week."

"Happy twenty-fourth birthday," Basam said cheerily.

Kuei looked at them in surprise. "I didn't know your birthday was during the summer," he said. Zafirah smiled ironically.

"Yeah, well, we were kinda busy," she pointed out.

"True," he agreed. "Well, relaxing on the beach sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate."

"I agree," Basam declared. "I'd say we've earned ourselves a vacation."

Late in the morning, the downhill slope of the road started to flatten out. Kuei noticed that the closer they got to sea level, the bigger Zafirah's smile grew. And he couldn't help but smile himself every time he saw it. Finally the road drew level with the ocean, running through the increasingly sparse forest. Through gaps in the trees, they could see the pristine white sand and glittering crests of waves. The siblings let out matching cries of delight and darted off through the trees, running out onto the beach. Kuei followed behind them, grinning at their joy. Bosco trailed after him with a grunt.

It was the perfect day for a trip to the beach—the sun shone in a cloudless sky, and there was just enough of a cool breeze to keep the summer heat from becoming too much. And they had found a truly excellent spot for swimming. The beach here lay in a sheltered bay, so that the waves were quite small.

The twins dashed across the sand and came to a halt halfway down the beach. Zafirah giggled like a little girl and bounced on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together.

"I wanna live here," she announced. "Seriously, just build me a house right here."

And then her hands went to her waist and hastily untied the long sash cinching her knee length, dress-like tunic. She dropped it to the ground and pulled the tunic up over her head, exposing the long-sleeved shirt underneath it. She quickly unraveled her arm wrappings and tugged up the ragged hem of her undershirt. Kuei's eyes went wide, his pulse jumping, and he quickly turned away.

"Wha—what are you doing? Are you _disrobing_?" he spluttered, clapping his hand over his eyes as his cheeks heated up.

"Uh, yeah?" she replied, as though it were obvious. He heard the rustle of fabric falling to the ground. "Last time I went swimming I went in with all my clothes on, except for my arm and leg wraps—it was in that little pond, you remember? And that didn't work at all, they took forever to dry out. I wanna go in the water, so this time I'm gonna do it right." More rustling reached his ears.

"You want to… but… can you even swim?" he demanded, hand still resolutely in place.

"No, but you'll jump in and grab me if something bad happens, right?" He could _hear_ the smirk on her face as she said it. He turned to Basam beseechingly, only to find that the other Sandbender had already stripped off his own tunic and was unraveling his arm bindings. The younger man stopped and shrank back under Kuei's reproachful frown.

"What?" he asked sheepishly.

"So d'you think the water here will be cold, or what?" Zafirah asked. Kuei instinctively turned to answer, remembering a second too late why he'd turned away. Well, if he'd been red-faced already, he must have looked like a beet by now. His jaw dropped at the sight of Zafirah standing before him clad only in her sarashi and underwear.

He'd never realized quite how thin she was—an effect of her harsh upbringing, no doubt. But she was far from skin and bones: her body was all lean muscle, interrupted only by the curve of her slender hips and the gentle swell of her breasts. He could see the faint outline of her ribs, as well as the points of her hip-bones. And yet, she didn't look frail in the slightest. Her thin frame radiated strength. Her smooth skin gleamed coppery brown in the midday sun.

She turned to him and spoke, breaking him out of his reverie. "You going in?" she asked.

"I—ah—what?" he stuttered helplessly, his throat dry. He very carefully focused his eyes on her face.

"Are you going in the water?" she repeated.

"N-no, no thank you, I think I'll sit here for now," he said. Yes, sitting was definitely a good idea at the moment; it wasn't just his eyes that had taken notice of Zafirah's beauty. He sank down onto the sand with as much dignity as he could muster, which wasn't much at the moment.

"Somethin' wrong, Kuei?" asked Basam, who had also stripped down to his undergarments. He sounded far too amused for the question to be an innocent one. Kuei shot a glare at the Sandbender man over his shoulder.

"Yes, everything's fine," he said, trying to keep his voice level. Basam cackled and darted off towards the water. Zafirah followed him, her long braid flying behind her as she ran.

* * *

Zafirah let out a yelp as the crest of a wave hit her waist. The cool water swirled around her legs, pushing against her so that she staggered back a step. She waded forward, digging her toes into the wet, squishy sand under her feet. Grinning widely, she glanced over at Basam. He beamed back at her, his whole face lit up with giddiness. They didn't even need to say anything to each other.

Another wave came at them and Zafirah flung herself right into it. The wave burst around her, shoving her back and spraying her with water. She could feel the surge of energy in the water as the wave passed her by. She laughed wildly as she wheeled her arms to stay on her feet. Curiously, she licked at the droplets on her lips and grimaced.

"Oh, ew, it's nasty!" she groaned. "How can water that looks so pretty taste so awful?"

"Fish live in this stuff—what were you expecting?" Basam asked jokingly. Zafirah rolled her eyes and shoved him a little. She turned around and waved at Kuei, still sitting on the sand with Bosco next to him. He waved right back at her. It was hard to tell at this distance, but his face still looked a little red. It was kind of funny, how flustered he'd gotten when she'd stripped down to go in the water. _I guess they didn't have all that many half-naked women back at the Royal Palace,_ she thought mirthfully. _Or maybe… maybe it's me that's… not that it matters, 'cuz he's the Earth King and he's off limits, _she told herself firmly.

She gave her head a shake and waved to him again, gesturing him to get himself down to the water and join them. He waved back at her but didn't budge from the beach. He pointed to his side, reminding her of the gash he'd gotten at the fortress on the day of the eclipse. _Looks like that man's bound and determined to keep all his clothes on. Too bad,_ she thought wistfully. _No, that's a good thing, seeing as how he's off limits. Less thinking, more splashing._

Towards sunset, Zafirah and Basam finally dragged themselves out of the water. Zafirah's legs were killing her from leaping around in the water, and she'd worked up a roaring appetite, but it was so very worth it. They set up their camp on the edge of the woods that bordered the beach. For dinner they ate the rest of the peaches and some roasted meat. Zafirah went to bed happier than she'd been in years, lulled to sleep by the crashing of the waves.

* * *

_One day later…_

Zafirah woke up suddenly that morning, and at first she wasn't sure what it was that had woken her. A quick look at the neighboring sleeping bags told her that Kuei and her brother were up already—it was Basam's turn to make breakfast, she remembered.

She sat up and scratched at her arms, frowning. They were really itching, actually. And so was her back… and her legs, and her chest, and her neck… Her frown got deeper as she pulled off her tunic and glanced down.

Basam and Kuei both came running at her shriek. "What's going on?" Basam asked, wild-eyed. Zafirah stood up and thrust out her arms. They were covered in bright red welts, as was most of the rest of her body. The two men both winced at the sight. Kuei lifted one hand towards her, then glanced her way like he was asking. She nodded and he gingerly laid his fingers on her forearm, gently prodding the welts.

"It looks like a rash. That happened to me once," said Kuei. "It must have been those berries we ate last night, the ones from our supplies. Some people have that reaction to certain types of fruits, I think."

"Well, what about you two?" Zafirah demanded.

"Nothing here," Basam said.

"I'm all right as well," Kuei said.

Zafirah groaned. "So it's just me? That's so not fair," she muttered. She scowled and rubbed at her arms again.

"Try not to scratch at the welts; my physicians told me that it only makes the rash worse," Kuei told her. He walked over to his pack and pulled the map out, scanning it. "There appears to be a small village just up the road from here. They'll likely have a healer who can give you something for that."

They debated for a minute whether they should all go, or have one of them stay in camp. Zafirah settled the matter for them by packing up all her things and heading for the road. She was so itchy that it actually hurt, and she was in no mood for dithering. The two men got all the rest of their stuff packed and caught up with her. Once they did, Kuei insisted that she ride on Bosco's back. It didn't help much, seeing as how his fur just made her legs itch worse.

The village turned out to be a tiny fishing town. The healer's house was easy enough to find, and when they got there, the heavy-set woman there told them what Kuei had already said—that the berries were the culprit. She smeared some blue ointment on the welts, taking the sting out of them. They bought a pot of the stuff, which Zafirah was supposed to put on three times a day until the itching went away.

With the itching taken care of for the moment, they returned to their spot on the beach; it was a nice place, after all, and they planned to stay another day. Once their camp was set up again, Zafirah headed right back into the waves.

"Ahh, that's better," she sighed as the water swirled around her itchy body. She was tempted to sit down in the shallow water, but Kuei had warned her not to. He said a big wave could come along and catch her off-guard. So she just stood in the water and enjoyed it.

Basam bounded into the waves next to her, kicking up a spray of water as he went. "How're you doin'?" he asked.

"Better than before. The water feels good," she said.

"Glad to hear. Hey, I wonder if we could bend the sand down here?" He pointed down towards the sandy bottom. Zafirah wiggled her toes in the stuff, thinking.

"I bet we could," she said mischievously. They took Bending stances, their feet planted apart and their fists raised. They swung their fists upward—slowly, two columns of sand rose up from under the water. The sand felt sluggish and amazingly heavy, but it was far easier than Bending regular earth. Then Zafirah grinned wickedly and slid her right foot sideways. Basam let out a yelp as he slowly sank down a few inches into the soggy sand.

"Hey!" he protested. Then he smirked and the sand under Zafirah's feet shifted. She flailed her arms madly for a second before toppling over into the shallow water. She spluttered as water splashed into her face. She got to her feet again and swung her arms. The sand under the water heaved up and knocked Basam down. He howled in mock outrage and splashed water at her, and then it was an all-out splash war.

They staggered back to their camp after a while, where Kuei sat with a very amused look on his face. Zafirah plopped down next to him and lightly jabbed his upper arm with her knuckles.

"Hey, Kuei, you see us Waterbending down there?" Zafirah joked. Kuei laughed at that, shaking his head. _Spirits, he's got a great laugh,_ Zafirah thought. That laugh had an uncanny way of making her heart race and her palms sweat.

"Yes, I did. I can see that you both have a bright future in the art," Kuei replied dryly.

Basam nudged Zafirah. "Speaking of Bending, you think you could show me that Earthbending stuff Daiyu taught you?" he asked.

"Sure! We can get started whenever you want," she said.

The three of them settled down to prepare the soup for their lunch. Basam went off to gather firewood while Zafirah and Kuei set about getting all the ingredients ready. It was time for another coat of ointment, though, so Kuei assured her that he could handle things while she tended to her welts. She was grateful for it, as the rash was starting to itch badly again.

So off she went to sit by her sleeping bag, which was a short ways from the cooking fire pit, and dug out the ointment jar. There was just one little problem—after her arms, legs, chest and neck were coated, she couldn't reach her back. She twisted around, craning her arms this way and that with no luck. She gave up with a frustrated sigh and wandered back over to the fire pit.

Kuei was right where she'd left him, sitting against Bosco's furry flank. He was busily cutting up carrots for their soup. As usual, his posture was perfect despite being on the ground. Her eyes were drawn to the motion of his bare arms as he sliced away. She noticed that his arms weren't as scrawny as they'd been before; he had a bit of lean muscle now, probably from all that training. Her eyes wandered a little over his slender frame and she wished even more that he'd gone swimming with them. _Off limits,_ she reminded herself. She walked back over to the fire pit.

He looked up at her as she sat down. "How are you feeling?" he asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"I can't reach the ones on my back," she grumbled.

Kuei frowned and shifted towards her. "I can help you, if you'd like," he offered. He put the carrots into the wooden bowl at his feet.

"That'd be good, thanks." She handed him the jar of ointment, then shuffled around so her back was to him. She heard the scrape of dirt as he scooted closer and a faint intake of breath when he hesitated. "Your hair is, er, in the way," he said. "May I?"

"Yeah, go ahead," she said. His fingertips brushed her shoulder blade as he carefully lifted her braid and pushed it forward. The jar lid grated a bit as Kuei opened it. She couldn't help but jump when the cool ointment touched the nape of her neck.

"Sorry," said Kuei.

"Not your fault. That stuff's just cold," she muttered, shivering.

He started humming a jaunty tune under his breath while his fingers moved from one red bump to the next, following the wide trail of spots from her neck and over her shoulder blades. Zafirah's eyes slid shut almost of their own will. Had the rash made her skin more sensitive, or did the gentle rubbing of his fingertips against her back really feel _that_ good? She felt a red-hot blush spreading over her face.

"Is it helping at all?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah. 'S helping," she mumbled.

"Good," Kuei replied. "Rashes like these are no fun at all."

"Speaking of which, how's that cut on your side doing?" she asked.

"It seems to be healing nicely. The stitches are starting to fall out now." His fingers moved past her sarashi and down along her spine. Then his hand seemed to linger at the small of her back, so briefly that she could have imagined it.

"_Kuei_," she breathed. His hand stilled and then pulled away. Her eyes shot open and she bit her lip, mortified.

"Have I done something wrong?" She could hear the anxiousness in his tone.

"N-no, no. It's just, ah, I think that's enough for now," she assured him. "My back feels much better now, thanks. I'm gonna go see if Basam needs any help with that firewood!" she added hastily as she scrambled to her feet. She grabbed her tunic and knee-length pants from her sleeping bag as she hurried off.

* * *

Zafirah wandered off into the woods that bordered their beach, her face still red. She fumed to herself as she stomped through the trees.

"Spirits and ancestors, what is _wrong_ with me?" she muttered. "I haven't been like this around a guy since I was thirteen!" Zafirah had had her share of shyness and awkwardness at first, like most teens, but usually she had no problem flirting with men. She'd had a few boyfriends before- not as many as some other girls, but she liked to think she had a fair bit of experience. It'd served her well, too, in learning to avoid and deal with some particularly creepy men at the Oasis. So why was she acting like a bashful little kid all of a sudden?

No, she knew the answer to that. Kuei was different from Shai, or the other two boys she'd dated from her own tribe. And it wasn't just his status, either, or his classy manner. He was just… different. He was special. And "special" wasn't a word she tended to use all that often.

_He's also the Earth King, and he's off limits,_ she reminded herself. That was what she'd been telling herself ever since the eclipse. And she'd been saying it more and more the past couple days. She repeated it every time he laughed, or flashed that heart-stopping smile, or started rambling adorably about some animal or other—and every time she remembered that moment in the passageway under the fortress, when he'd leaned in like he was going to…

It wasn't working very well. _He's off limits,_ she recited silently. The words didn't even sound convincing in her own head.

_I gotta stop thinking like this,_ she told herself. _I can't tell him how I feel. We'll just stay friends. Yeah. I can be friends with him. I can do this._ She paused mid-step, then heaved a sigh and leaned against a tree trunk next to her.

"No I can't. Spirits damn it all," she muttered. Twigs snapped behind her and her heart jumped into her throat. She whipped around and saw Basam crunching through the underbrush towards her.

"What're we damning, now?" he asked lightly, hefting a bundle of firewood. Then he frowned and set the bundle down. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice soft.

"'S nothing," Zafirah muttered. Basam didn't look even a little bit convinced. She sighed again and fiddled with the end of her braid. "Okay, fine. It's… it's about Kuei."

"Ah." Basam nodded, clearly not surprised in the least. "You want to talk about it?"

She did, as a matter of fact. "The thing is… I'm crazy about him, okay? I've gone and fallen for the guy and I can't say a word of it to his face. I can't ever tell him and that's a fact," she said. The words all spilled out in a rush.

Basam's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "You can't… wait, what? Why not?"

Zafirah snorted. "C'mon, Basam. He's the Earth King, I'm a Sandbender… it's ridiculous! That kind of thing just doesn't happen outside of folk tales. It just isn't done!"

"Hey, you never know—maybe they'll write a folk tale about you two someday," Basam joked gamely, nudging her with his elbow. She glared at him.

"I mean it, Basam! I can't tell him about this, and neither can you!" she snapped. Basam took a step back and held up his hands.

"Hey, I wasn't going to," he assured her. "But I think _you_ should." He waved his hands, stopping her as she opened her mouth to object. "Just hear me out, okay?"

"Okay, fine," she agreed grudgingly.

"Look, I know it sounds impossible, but he's here with us, wandering around the Earth Kingdom like any other peasant, and _that's_ a fact. And besides, he said he's in exile, so... he's not really the Earth King anymore, anyway."

Zafirah opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut again. She hadn't thought of that angle. Basam could tell she wasn't convinced, though. He set his hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.

"Zafi, you know I just want you to be happy. If you think that being with Kuei would make you happy, then I say you should give it a shot. And I know you'd tell me no different if it was me in your place," he said gently.

Zafirah frowned. "I… I don't even know if he feels the same way. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she mumbled. "I mean, normally I can tell if a guy's into me. But with Kuei, I can't tell if he's interested or it he's just awkward around women." Basam threw back his head and laughed.

"Oh, sister of mine, that is the least of your worries! That poor guy can hardly keep his eyes off you," he chortled. Zafirah felt her eyes go wide as she blushed. _So I wasn't imagining it!_ she thought. "C'mon, let's get back to camp. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry."

Zafirah shook her head. "You go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay. Try not to get lost in the woods," he said airily. Zafirah rolled her eyes as he picked up the firewood again and walked back towards the beach. She sat down and leaned back against the nearest tree, turning her face up to look at the treetops.

_Maybe Basam's right. Maybe he isn't, though. He has a point about Kuei being in exile. But what if the war ends? Kuei'll have to go back. But it's a hundred-year war! What're the odds it'll end now? _

_Son of a beetle, I've got it bad._

_Kuei did get all red in the face the other day, when I went in the water… So maybe he does want me as much as I want him—and Spirits know I want him bad. _Oh, did she ever! It was so tempting, sometimes, to just grab him and kiss those pale lips of his. _And we get along real well, so I know he doesn't dislike me… so maybe he feels the same as I do. But even if he does, so what? He's still the Earth King._

…_Except he kind of isn't anymore and I'm right back where I started._ She ground her teeth together. She mulled over Basam's words—specifically, the part where she ought to go for it if she thought being with Kuei would make her happy. Memories of their time together flashed through her head, and there was no denying the inner warmth that they brought with them. They'd borrowed strength from each other in battle and made each other laugh, and they'd shared joy and sadness both.

…_Yes. Yes, damn it, being with Kuei would make me happy,_ she decided. There was no question about it in her mind. What she did question was whether she should go for it, like Basam said.

"Is it worth the risk of it all going terribly wrong?" she asked out loud. The woods didn't answer her. She heaved another sigh and clambered to her feet.

When she got back to camp, Kuei looked up from stirring the soup and beamed at her—it was that amazing smile again, the one that made her feel warm all over. Seeing that smile always made her feel like everything was going to be okay.

_Yeah, it's worth the risk._ All of a sudden, it all seemed so obvious. _Totally worth it._

* * *

They left the beach the next morning. As much as the twins loved being there, the three of them felt compelled to keep going. There was so much that they hadn't seen, after all, and the far away places on their map beckoned. So they packed up their belongings, loaded up Bosco's saddlebags, and off they went.

Their next stop was a small town further up the coast. About five miles away from it, another road came down over the hills to their right to join the coastal route. As they approached the juncture of the two roads, Kuei spotted a large, covered cart rattling down the hills road towards them. The cart reached the juncture at the same time they did. There was an old man sitting on the driver's bench, clad in simple, faded clothing and a conical straw hat.

"Good afternoon, travelers!" called the old man. He reined in his ostrich horse team, slowing down to wave at them. Kuei waved back, as did the twins. Bosco growled and sat up on his haunches, waving one massive paw. The old man frowned a little, and then recognition dawned on his face. "I know you three! That animal of yours is pretty unmistakable, young man," he said with a chuckle.

"You do look familiar," Kuei admitted. Now that he thought about it, he was sure he'd seen this man before.

"Wait… Mr. Liu?" Zafirah asked incredulously. Ah, of course! This was the old farmer who had given them a ride to the fortress, back before the eclipse.

"Huh, I'll be damned!" Basam exclaimed. "Talk about coincidences."

Liu smiled at them, his hazel eyes glinting. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Did you find that cousin you were looking for?"

"Yeah, we sure did," Zafirah said, not missing a beat. Kuei was grateful—he'd never have remembered that little cover story of theirs.

"And where are you off to now?" Liu asked.

"We're just sort of wandering around, y'know," Basam said, waving his hand vaguely. Liu pondered this for a moment, reaching beneath his conical hat to scratch his head.

"Hmm. Well, I don't suppose you'd like to take some time off from wandering to help me with something?" he asked. The trio exchanged glances—Zafirah and Basam both shrugged, so Kuei turned back to Liu and spoke up.

"What is it that you need?" he asked.

"My farm has taken quite a bit of damage, you see," Liu began. "It's not far from here—just down the road from the town up ahead. A Fire Nation garrison passed through here a couple weeks ago; they set themselves up in the town, demanding that the townsfolk give them supplies and the like. Well, on the night they left, they passed by my farm. They said I hadn't paid my dues to them and demanded supplies from me. Some of my farmhands tried to fight them, but all it did was make them angry. They took the farmhands as servants, took some of my crops, and set fire to some of my buildings."

Basam and Zafirah both gasped in horror. Kuei just scowled, outraged by the soldiers' behavior.

"How can we help?" Zafirah asked.

"I need some help rebuilding my farm and harvesting the summer crops. I still have five farmhands—they were all in town the night of the attack. But they're overworked, the poor boys. If you three could just stay for a couple weeks, until I've had time to hire proper replacements… you'd be paid full wages, of course, and you'd have room and board provided," Liu said.

Kuei turned questioningly to his friends again. The twins both nodded at him; he nodded back and then smiled at Liu.

"We'd love to help," Kuei said.

Liu gave them a crinkly-eyed grin. "Thank you. Well, climb on into the back of the cart! Your animal will have to walk alongside, though."

"That's fine," Kuei assured him as they walked around to the rear of the cart. He pulled back the canvas flap covering the back and climbed in after the twins. They sat down atop the crates stacked in the cart, which lurched into motion.

"So, I'm guessing you never swung a hammer before," Zafirah said to Kuei, nudging him with her elbow.

"I haven't," he admitted.

"Don't worry, we'll show you how," Basam said from Kuei's left.

"I'll defer to your expertise, then," Kuei said. With that, the three of them settled in for the ride to the farm.

* * *

**Playlist!**

**1. **"**Fly Me Away" by Little & Ashley—Chapter theme!**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=IEtiWAr81tQ**

**2. **"**I Won't Say (I'm In Love)" [Hercules]—Guess which scene this applies to. Go ahead, guess. :P**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=1o9Kra8o1G8**

**3. **"**Part of Your World (Reprise)" [The Little Mermaid]—Zafirah thinks it may be impossible, but decides that being with Kuei is worth the risk of trying.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v=op8mgKDaU3c**


	19. Chapter 16

**Okay, so, remember when I said in the ANs for Nightfall Interlude that Ch16 was going to be particularly awesome? Well, I ended up deciding to rearrange the story a bit. Not that this chapter sucks or anything! It's still a good chapter! I just moved some things around. You'll see! Read on!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16—WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING**

The cart ride went by uneventfully, and soon they arrived at Liu's farm. His wife came out of the main house to greet them. Like her husband, she wore ragged and faded clothing. She had frizzy silver hair, half of which she wore pulled up in a topknot. A warm, welcoming smile graced her wrinkled face as she said hello to them.

They also met two of the remaining farmhands: Chinh, who was tall, muscular, and light-skinned; and Xuan, who was short, slender, and dark-skinned. When Kuei grasped Xuan's forearm in greeting, though, he could feel the strength in the shorter man's grip. Both men were dark-haired.

The farm was quite large. In addition to the main house, there was a separate house for the farmhands. Next to that was a small bathhouse with three rooms, each containing its own tub and water-pump. There were two storehouses for the harvested crops, and Kuei could immediately see the damage that had been done. Most of the farmhand house had burned as well, and there were only two extra rooms.

As Chinh showed them around, Kuei realized that this was the first time he'd seen a real farm. It was much neater and more organized than he'd imagined. He'd read plenty of stories involving farms, in his hours spent in the Royal Library—usually, the farm was where the brave hero or heroine came from. Said character would always leave the farm to go off on some marvelous adventure. More than a few stories had ended up with the character defeating the villain and becoming King or Queen of the realm. It occurred to Kuei that he was doing it in the opposite order. He smiled at the thought.

"So, who's sleeping where?" Zafirah asked as they entered the farmhand house.

"I could share with Zafi if you want your own room, Kuei," Basam added. "We're used to it." Kuei thought back to the cramped basement underneath the weapons shop.

"Or Zafirah could have her own room, and you and I could share," Kuei suggested, turning to Basam. It would have been inappropriate, unfortunately, to suggest sharing a room with Zafirah.

"I gotta admit, that's a tempting offer," Zafirah said with a smirk. "My very own room!"

Basam shrugged. "I don't mind much where I sleep, really. I'll share with Kuei, then," he said. Chinh led them to two doors near the end of the hall, about three rooms apart from each other.

"These're yours," he said in his gruff voice. Kuei thanked him and the younger man just nodded once before leaving.

"Chatty fellow," Zafirah commented sardonically once the farmhand was out of sight. Basam chuckled and then waved to the two doors.

"Right or left?" he asked Zafirah.

"I don't know—right, I guess," she said. The three friends then went off to get settled into their rooms. Basam slid open the door of the left-hand room and the two men entered. It was a small, sparsely decorated space. There was one futon bed along the back wall, with blankets and sheets neatly folded at its bottom. Kuei made a note to ask about getting a second one. There was a small, wooden table next to the bed, most likely as a place to set a lamp. A rickety, wooden dresser sat against the wall on the left; a tall wardrobe stood next to it. A faded, frayed wall hanging on the right added a splash of muted color to the room. There was a window above the futon bed, its shutters closed.

Basam set his pack down and smiled. "It's kind of a nice place, don't you think?" he asked, glancing at Kuei. "Well, probably not nearly as nice as what you're used to and all, but still…"

"It's a very cozy room," Kuei agreed. "A room doesn't have to be lavishly furnished to qualify as a nice place."

"Well said," Basam agreed. They didn't have much to unpack. Their blankets got folded up and put in the bottom drawer of the dresser. They each had two extra changes of clothing, courtesy of the supply stores at the fortress, which went into the dresser or were hung up in the wardrobe. They placed the rest of their various belongings on the dresser top. With that done, the two of them went outside to unpack the supplies in Bosco's saddlebags. Zafirah had apparently had the same idea, because she was already there.

"I like the rooms," she commented. "Very comfy."

"Indeed," Kuei agreed. "Now, what are we going to do with these supplies?"

"Well, we won't need the food while we're here. And most of it'll just spoil, anyway. Let's give it to Mrs. Liu," Basam suggested.

"Good idea," Zafirah agreed. "I'll go and do that. You two store those tents somewhere." Basam took the tents back to his and Kuei's room while Zafirah gathered up the food and took it to the main house. Kuei went with her to ask about that futon bed.

After dinner that night, Mr. Liu took the three of them aside to explain the details of their work schedule. "You'll be getting up early each morning, and working till sunset. Once a week, you'll have a day and a half off of work. That time will be yours to do as you please. Is that acceptable to you?" They had agreed, and then they'd gone off to bed.

* * *

It was only just past sunrise the next morning when a knock at the door woke Zafirah up. She groaned and buried her face against the worn pillow, but the knocking kept going. She dragged herself up off the futon and stomped over to the door. She slid it open and saw Xuan standing in the hall.

"Sorry about the wake-up call," he said with a slight wince. "Rules are rules though." Ah, yes, now she remembered.

"Don't worry 'bout it," she mumbled, pushing loose locks of hair out of her face. Xuan left her to get dressed. She rubbed a layer of ointment onto the rash before pulling her tunic on. The stuff was working fast—the rash was nearly gone already. Kuei and Basam were just leaving their room as she stepped out into the hall. She felt a flash of jealousy at her brother, getting to share a room with Kuei. _That's a dumb thing to be jealous about,_ she told herself. Didn't stop her wishing it was her, though.

"Mornin'," she called to them. Basam yawned and waved sleepily.

"Good morning, Zafirah. Did you sleep well?" Kuei asked. She raised her eyebrows at him. She felt like an utter mess, still sleepy and with her clothes all rumpled; he looked bright-eyed and well rested, and his clothes were all neat and tidy, if a little too big. (And even though they were too big, she thought, he still managed to look handsome in them.)

"How are you so awake this early?" she asked.

"I, um, I really don't know?" he offered, gesturing vaguely. His face went a little red. It was ridiculously endearing.

"If you figure it out, let me know," she said dryly. Then she remembered that he'd asked a question. "Oh, uh, I slept fine. Thanks." Now it was her turn to blush a little. "How about you?"

"Quite well, thank you." He smiled, drawing her gaze down to his lips once again. She quickly looked back up his eyes, those startlingly green eyes… but that just made her even more red faced. She and Kuei both jumped a little when Basam clapped them both on their shoulders and smirked.

"Let's not keep our hosts waiting," he said cheerfully. _Oh, right—breakfast,_ Zafirah reminded herself. The three of them left the farmhand house and made their way to the main house.

After breakfast, Liu put them right to work on construction. He led them to one of the crop storage sheds, which was just about falling down. A couple of the farmhands were already there, up in the scaffolding that surrounded the blackened structure. Zafirah saw them hacking away the remains of burnt wooden beams, making way for the repairs.

Basam turned to Kuei. "Okay, I'll show you what to do," he said. Of the three of them, Basam had done the most carpentry, thanks to his time on the sand glider construction team. Kuei nodded and awkwardly followed Basam up into the scaffolding. Zafirah climbed up next to them. Kuei's feet slipped a time or two, making Zafirah wince and hold her breath. But to his credit, he didn't fall.

Once they were situated in the scaffolding, they got their tools and set to work. Looking around, Zafirah saw that the beams to be cut away were all marked with white chalk. She picked up a saw and grabbed hold of the nearest beam. The metal blade cut easily through the burnt wood, which was rough and crumbly under her hand. It took only a couple minutes to cut away the beam, which she dropped down onto the pile at the bottom of the scaffolding.

It was easy work and it got boring quickly. Zafirah let her mind wander a bit—not too much, of course, as she didn't want to cut off anything important. But there was a matter weighing on her and it tugged at her thoughts.

Back on the beach, it'd seemed like a done deal. She'd made up her mind and all. And then the nerves had set in. Sure, it was easy enough to say that being with Kuei would make her happy and to decide it was worth the risk to tell him, but actually doing something about it… _I never had this stupid problem with any other guys,_ she thought grumpily. It was embarrassing to admit—which was why she never would—but she was afraid of messing up, somehow. _I wanna get this right. Okay, Zafirah, calm down. What I need is a plan…_

A few minutes later, she looked over at Kuei and saw him rubbing his shoulder. "Getting tired already?" she called over teasingly.

He quickly went to work again. "No, no, I was just stretching," he lied, sawing away busily. She smirked and shook her head.

They worked till the early afternoon, when one of the farmhands yelled to them that it was lunchtime. As they clambered down the scaffolding and headed off to lunch, Zafirah's eyes went right to Kuei. It would've been hard not to look, really. She could see a thin sheen of sweat on his face and his arms, gleaming in the sun. And she could see it on his neck and collarbones, too, as the neckline of his wraparound tunic had sagged open a little. Plus, his tunic was sticking to his slender torso. It was definitely a good look for him, she decided. Luckily, it was sunny and hot that day, so she had an excuse to be red in the face.

* * *

After lunch, Kuei and his friends were assigned a different task—this time, Liu sent them to another storage shed that was already being rebuilt. Now Kuei had another new trick to learn: wielding a hammer and nails. As with the sawing before, his arm started to ache quickly. He winced as he pounded another nail into a plank. Basam stopped him with a hand on his upper arm, shaking his head.

"You don't have to put so much force into it, y'know?" he said. "Just tap the nail, easy-like. You're not trying to kill the thing," he added good-naturedly. Kuei smiled wearily, wiped his forehead on his arm, and tried it again. He'd left his glasses in his room, for which he was glad, as they certainly wouldn't have stayed on with all this sweat.

"Is this very different from building sand gliders?" Kuei asked Basam after a few minutes.

"Sort of," Basam replied. "This wood's a lot better than most of what we had, though."

"Really?" Kuei hadn't really considered that certain types of wood would be better than others.

"Yeah. Our tribe could never afford the high quality lumber, so we had to make do with the dregs of whatever the traders had left over," Basam explained.

"Ah," Kuei murmured. He decided that, if he ever got his throne back, he'd see what he could do about establishing some better trade routes in that part of the Earth Kingdom.

After a short while, he found himself glancing over at Zafirah to see how she was faring. There was a glimmer of sweat on her forehead and neck. She wore a sleeveless green shirt and pants in place of her usual Sandbender garb, and he could see the sweat on her arms as well. It had never really occurred to him that sweat could be attractive before. He watched her hammering away industriously, a look of intense concentration on her face. It wasn't until Basam nudged him that he realized he'd forgotten about his own task. He blushed and got back to work.

The sun set and their work ended for the day. The farmhands all trampled back to the main house for dinner. Kuei felt as though he were dragging his limbs through thick mud as he walked. He was completely exhausted from the day's efforts.

_Perhaps I'll skip dinner and go right to bed,_ he thought. But his stomach protested that idea, so he forced himself to the table. Once the meal was over, most of the farmhands went outside to sit and drink rice wine around a campfire.

"Hey, new guys, wanna join us?" called one of the farmhands. Kuei couldn't remember his name. He considered it, then decided against it.

"No, thank you. But I do appreciate the offer," Kuei said with a thin smile. The farmhand shrugged.

"How 'bout you two?" he said to the twins.

Zafirah shrugged. "Sure, I'll stay and have a drink. Just one, though."

"Count me in, too," Basam said. The Sandbender man was more accustomed to such hard work, so he didn't seem nearly as tired as Kuei or Zafirah did. Kuei envied the other man's strength.

Instead, Kuei decided that a bath was in order. He stopped by his room to grab a towel from his belongings, and then headed off to the farmhands' bathhouse. It was a round structure with six small bathing rooms arranged around it. There was a water pump in the middle, with pipes that ran into each bathing room. According to the other farmhands, each bathing stall had its own small water boiler. The pipes ran the water through the boiler and then into the bathing basin by way of a hand pump. All he had to do was light the boiler in the stall and then pump in as much water as he needed.

He picked a stall and walked in, sliding the door shut behind him. Lighting the boiler was easy enough, but the farmhands had told him that it would take a few minutes to heat up. While he waited, he reached up and took his hair down, untangling it with his fingers. His hair was much shorter now than it had been in Ba Sing Se. In the capitol, it was the style for noblemen to wear their hair in a long queue. However, before leaving the Avatar's group at Chameleon Bay, Sokka had suggested cutting his hair. It would help him blend in better, the boy had said. Kuei had agreed and let the teenager cut his hair to slightly below shoulder length. (The boy had seemed to enjoy the cutting a little too much, saying, "Take that, hair!") Ever since then, he'd been wearing his hair in a topknot.

He waited another minute or two before he started pumping water into the basin. The mechanism was much easier to operate than he'd expected, and soon he had a basin full of delightfully warm water.

* * *

Zafirah sat with the farmhands for a few minutes, sipping her cup of rice wine. Once it was empty, she stood up and left to go and take a bath.

As she walked away, one of the farmhands piped up. "Want some company?" he leered. That earned him a rude gesture from Zafirah and a smack upside the head from Basam. She heard the rest of the farmhands having a good laugh at the guy as she headed towards the farmhand house.

There was a slight bounce in her step, despite how bone-weary she was. The prospect of another hot bath had put her in a good mood. _First the bath at the fortress, and now we get an entire bathhouse to use… I'm likely to get spoiled if this keeps up,_ she thought cheerily. After a quick stop by her room, she headed to the bathhouse. She picked a stall at random, yawning widely as she walked over to it and slid open the door.

What she hadn't counted on was the possibility that the stall wouldn't be empty. And it wasn't even remotely empty. She froze in the doorway, her towel falling out of her hand.

Kuei was standing there, next to a basin of steaming water, in all his almost-naked glory. He was wearing just his underwear and his fingers were on the drawstring holding them up on his narrow hips. He froze too, gaping at her in red-faced shock.

She tried not to stare, she really did. For a moment, though, she just couldn't pull her eyes away. Spirits, but he had a gorgeous body. He was all long lines and sharp angles and lean muscle—and still very pale, though it looked like all these weeks in the sun were starting to change that. The smoothness of his skin was only interrupted by the thin, stitched-up line of the cut on his torso, the one from the battle.

His hair was down, she realized, hanging loose around his face. It looked soft, and she really wanted to run her fingers through it. It was a good length for that kind of thing. He had long, long legs and thin arms, but he didn't look gangly at all. Instead, he looked _delicious._

After what felt like forever, she managed to tear her eyes away from him. She grabbed her towel off the ground and backed away. "S-sorry, wrong room!" she squeaked, her face burning. And with that, she spun on her heel and raced out of the room.

She picked another bath stall, this one across the circle from Kuei's. One of the stalls next to his was empty; she knew because the door was open a little (and she blamed her tiredness for not seeing that before). But she walked past it. She didn't trust herself not to do something stupidly impulsive, sitting naked in a bath basin knowing Kuei was doing the same thing on the other side of a thin wall.

Zafirah still felt flustered when she got back to her room after her bath. She was trying not to think about what she would've seen if she'd barged into that stall a moment later, but it wasn't easy. Part of her wished she had; but the rest of her worried that Kuei might have keeled over from embarrassment. _That settles it,_ she thought, _I need a plan to make him mine. _

And then an absurd thought popped into her head: _I just saw the Earth King in his underwear._ She giggled at the thought, and then she guffawed, and then she couldn't stop laughing. She laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks.

When the hilarity faded away, she was left once again with the sheer ridiculousness of her whole situation. The nerves came back again, and so did that gnawing edge of doubt. For all the certainty she'd had on the beach… well, she really didn't have _any_ certainty at all. Every time she felt like she'd made up her mind, the doubts would come back again.

She sighed and sank down onto her futon. There was no denying it—she really, really wanted to be with Kuei. But by all rights, he didn't belong in her world and she didn't belong in his. In fact, by all rights, they never should have even met. It was just a strange twist of destiny that had brought their lives together that day in the Misty Palms Oasis.

It wasn't that she was unhappy about it; no, despite all the confusion she was feeling, she wouldn't have traded their time together for anything in the world. (Although she could have done without that argument and the weeks of mutual cold-shouldering that had followed it.) It was just… how in the world was she going to do this? How could she tell him what she felt?

She stood up and paced restlessly over to her dresser. Her prayer talisman sat on the dresser top; she picked it up and slid it out of its pouch. She ran her fingers over the red-brown stone, feeling its worn etchings under her fingertips. She thought about all the desert spirits that those inscriptions stood for and sighed again.

She scowled at the stone, wondering if some Spirit was having fun with this. "Very funny," she muttered.

* * *

The days seemed to fly by under their steady schedule of labor. The work got easier and easier with each attempt, Kuei noticed. Soon enough, his right arm stopped aching as badly when he wielded a saw or swung a hammer. The three of them got along quite well with the farmhands, who were all good company. Bosco seemed to be enjoying himself as well; he got daily meals of fresh meat, and Mrs. Liu was always happy to give him a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ear.

On that particular night, almost a week after their arrival, Kuei and the others were eating dinner at the main house. It was a warm, balmy summer night, and Kuei could hear crickets chirping outside the dining room's open windows.

As they finished their meal, everyone brought their dishes in to the kitchen. Dish-washing was something of a communal event on the farm, with everyone scrubbing and drying at a long, metal basin. The other farmhands left the kitchen as they finished their share of the dishes; eventually, only Kuei, Basam, and Zafirah were left. Mr. Liu sat at a small table in the corner of the kitchen, sipping a cup of ginseng tea.

Basam finished his last dish and nudged Zafirah. "Hey, you think you could show me some of that meditation stuff later? The stuff Daiyu taught you?"

"Sure," Zafirah agreed. "Just as soon as I finish this." She jerked her head in the direction of the dishes in front of her.

"I could finish cleaning those for you," Kuei offered.

"Really? You don't mind?" she asked.

"Not at all," he assured her.

Zafirah flashed one of her bright, lovely smiles at him. "Thanks, Kuei! That's real nice of you." She wiped her hands dry on her pants legs and then tugged her brother's sleeve. "Okay, let's go start that meditation." The two Sandbenders strode out of the kitchen. Zafirah reached up and gave his left ear an affectionate flick as she passed by. Kuei chuckled and watched them go, and he'd nearly forgotten about his dishes until Liu spoke up.

"You're a lucky man, traveling with such good friends," he said.

"Oh, um, thank you," Kuei said. He quickly got back to scrubbing his dishes. Once the last one was clean, he dried it and set it aside.

"Would you like some tea?" Liu asked.

"Yes, please. Thank you." Kuei sat down across from Liu and accepted a steaming cup of the aromatic tea. They sat in silence for a moment.

"She's a remarkable girl," the old man commented. Kuei jumped slightly and glanced at him. Liu gave a gravelly chuckle and sipped his tea. "Zafirah, I mean. She's quite a girl."

"Yes, she is," Kuei agreed, smiling softly. "Now, if only I weren't such a coward," he added in an undertone.

Liu chuckled again. "Ah, yes, I remember what it was like at your age. Love seemed so complicated." He leaned back in his chair and tapped his thick fingertips against his chin. "You know, there's a lovely botanical garden in town. I've heard it's especially beautiful at this time of the year. If I were a young man with a pretty lady-friend, I might think it a nice place to go for a walk."

Kuei sat forward in his own chair as he caught Liu's meaning and the idea blossomed in his mind. Tomorrow was their half-day of work. They would have the entire afternoon and evening to themselves. And after that, they'd have a full day off. His heart beat a little faster as he thought about it. He could ask Zafirah to go to the garden with him… at sunset, perhaps. They could find a nice spot to sit and talk, and then he could tell her…

"Yes," Kuei agreed thoughtfully. "Yes, I think you're right." His mouth curled up in a wide smile. He drained the rest of his teacup and stood. "Thank you, Mr. Liu." Kuei bowed quickly to the old man and then rushed out of the main house. As he hurried back to the farmhand house, he saw Zafirah and Basam sitting in meditation by the front door. Bosco sat next to them, looking confused. Kuei walked past them; he'd wait until they were done.

He went back to his shared room and lay down on his futon. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this restless. First he folded his hands on his stomach, tapping the fingers of one against the back of the other. Then he sat up and leaned back against the wall. His left foot started tapping against the futon. Finally, Basam came back to their room, nodding a greeting to Kuei. He nodded back, stilling his tapping foot so as not to betray his nervousness. He waited another minute or two, and then got up and excused himself.

He walked up the hall, his heart in his throat, and knocked on Zafirah's door. There was a pause, followed by the scuff of footsteps, and then the door slid open. Zafirah peered out at him, looking sleepy.

"Hey, Kuei. What's up?" Zafirah asked, puzzled.

"I, um... Mr. Liu says there's a garden in town," he blurted.

Zafirah arched an eyebrow at him. "Good for them," she said, the corners of her mouth twitching. Kuei blushed, cursing his lack of tact.

"Well, um, what I meant to say is that there's a botanical garden in town, and Mr. Liu says that it's a very nice place. He, uh, he says that there are some lovely flowers at this time of the year. I was thinking that perhaps we could go there tomorrow, after we're dismissed from work." He forced the words out in a rush, before he could lose his nerve.

Zafirah grinned. "Sure, that sounds like fun. Have you asked Basam yet if he wants to go?"

Kuei's face reddened even more. "A-actually, I… I thought… that maybe we could go together. You and… and I."

Her eyes widened at that. "What, y-you mean, just the two of us?" she asked. And then she actually blushed! He could clearly see the redness rising to her tan cheeks in the dim light of the hallway.

"Yes, just the two of us," he agreed, his confidence bolstered by that blush. "I thought it might be nice to spend an evening together."

"Uh… yeah," she agreed softly. "Yeah, that'd be… yeah. Sure. Definitely." She reached up and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"So, tomorrow then?" he ventured.

"Yeah," she repeated, smiling.

"Good! Goodnight, Zafirah," he said happily.

"Night," she replied faintly. She still had that smile on her face as she slid the door shut. Once it was closed, Kuei let out a relieved breath. And then the full impact of what he'd just done hit him and he leaned against the wall behind him. He'd just set up the most perfectly opportune moment to tell Zafirah how he truly felt about her.

_The question is… can I go through with it?_ he thought to himself.

* * *

True to his word, Liu let them off work at noon the next day. The farmhands all scattered away, chattering happily as they went off to enjoy the start of their free time. Zafirah walked back to the farmhouse with Basam next to her.

"So what're you up to now?" Basam asked as they sauntered back. "Feel like going over some Earthbending stuff?"

"Sure, but just for a couple of hours," she agreed.

"Why's that?" Basam asked.

Zafirah's face started to heat up. "Uh, actually, Kuei asked me if I wanted to go walk around town with him. Says there's a nice garden or something they've got. Pretty flowers or some such. He asked me last night."

Basam's eyebrows went up and a grin spread slowly across his face. Zafirah scowled and jabbed a finger at him. "Don't! Not a word outta you," she grumbled warningly, blushing even more. Basam pressed his lips together and held up his hands, but he was still smirking. She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his upper arm. "Okay, let's stick to some simple forms for now. I don't think Liu would much appreciate us tearing up the ground around here."

They found a nice, open space behind the farmhand house and stood facing each other. Zafirah put her fists on her hips and began. "Okay, so, first of all, you got your basic stances. This one, Daiyu called a horse stance." She planted her feet apart and bent her knees, with her fists raised. Basam copied her. "Okay, and this is the motion you'd use to move a single rock." She shifted her feet and thrust her fists forward. And again, Basam followed along.

"Is that it?" he asked as he did the motion a few more times.

"Well, kind of. Remember how I told you to feel the flow of your chi last night, when we were meditating?"

"Yeah?"

"Try to feel it flowing down your arms now, and out from your hands. Like a stream or something."

Basam took a deep breath in and out and did the movement again, his brow furrowed in concentration. After a few tries, he relaxed his stance. "I got nothin'," he muttered.

"It was hard for me at first, too," Zafirah said. "Just try it a few more times, okay? Really reach into yourself and feel your chi flowing. You wanna channel it from that chakra—I told you about that remember?—and make it go from there to your arms, and then out through your fists."

Her brother nodded and kept at it. Eventually, he grinned. "I felt it that time!" he exclaimed.

"Good! Now let's try another stance…"

At two hours before sunset, Zafirah headed off to take a quick bath. And then came the real challenge: deciding what to wear. She stood by the dresser in her room for what felt like hours, agonizing over her choices.

"Well, this is new," she muttered. She'd never had to worry about choosing clothes back home, mainly due to lack of options. But now she had choices! She had her Sandbender clothes and the two sets of clothing taken from the fortress: a sleeveless green tunic with a brown belt and knee-length brown pants; and a long-sleeved brown tunic with a green belt and long green pants. The sleeveless tunic was badly in need of a washing and it was far too hot for the long-sleeved tunic. Eventually she settled on a mix of things; she took the long, tan, short-sleeved tunic from her desert garb, the green pants, and the green belt. She put on her arm wraps like usual, but only a couple layers of them.

"Not bad," she muttered as she looked down at herself. Then she left her room and headed outside, trying to tell herself that she wasn't nervous. It didn't work. She was all a-flutter over this, like some silly little girl. _This is my chance,_ she told herself. _I just have to be brave enough to take it._

* * *

**Playlist:**

**1) **"**A Year Without Rain" by Selena Gomez—Zafi's inner thoughts in this chapter. Yes, I like a Selena Gomez song. I care not! My friend candlehat on deviantART suggested it to me, pointing out that it works really well for Zafi and Kuei, and she was right!**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v= P1Vf5_d7nOI**

**2) **"**See You Tomorrow" [How To Train Your Dragon]—Chapter theme.**

**h t t p : / / www. youtube. com / watch ?v= L4o5-f6dGAg**


	20. Date Interlude

**Sooo yeah! :D This was originally going to be part of Ch16, hence why I'd said in the AN's for Nightfall Interlude that Ch16 was going to be particularly awesome. But I decided that Kuei and Zafi really deserved their own separate chapter. Quantumreality was the one who suggested making this its own chapter and I'm glad he did. Millions and millions of thanks to both my lovely betas, and to my reviewers!**

* * *

**INTERLUDE— AT LAST**

It was nearly sunset when Kuei and Zafirah arrived in the town of Meihui. The two of them had gotten a ride in Mr. Liu's cart, along with a few other farmhands who wished to spend their free time in town. Basam had stayed behind to hang out at the beach with the rest of the farmhands, along with Bosco.

Meihui was nicer than Kuei had expected: it had a very clean, open feel to it. The stone-paved streets were lined with neatly maintained houses, their white walls contrasting attractively with green-trimmed roofs.

"Nice town," Zafirah commented as they walked along. "Feels kinda weird walking on stone, though."

"Ah," Kuei said. He remembered that the Oasis had been all hard-packed dirt, and they'd been walking along dirt roads all this time. A question popped into his mind as he glanced down at her bare feet padding against the stone. "Zafirah, I was wondering why you and Basam changed your foot wrappings," he said.

"Hm?"

"Well, before the eclipse, you and he both had wrappings that covered the midsection of your foot. But after the battle, you both changed the wrappings to leave your entire feet exposed."

"Ah, right." She nodded. "Well, we can't go totally barefoot in the desert 'cuz of the hot sand. The ball of the foot and the heel, they get callused nice and quick, but the middle of the foot stays all soft. You remember how hot the sand gets out there during the day."

"Yes," he agreed, wincing at the memory.

"So we have to keep that part of the foot protected. But we can't wear shoes, 'cuz that makes it harder to feel the sand when you Bend," she explained.

"Oh, I see now. Bending is harder for you on solid dirt or rock, so now you're exposing your whole feet to feel the earth better?" Kuei guessed.

"Exactly," Zafirah agreed.

The garden was easy to find—it was located right in the center of the town—and it was, as promised, beautiful. Luscious flowers and trees surrounded the winding stone pathways, with tranquil koi ponds dotting the landscape like scattered blue gems. He and Zafirah walked side by side along the paths, taking their time. Kuei supposed that, to anyone watching, they would have looked like any other normal young couple—just strolling along, chatting idly, enjoying the warm climate and the stunning blooms. Of course, if they were to get close enough to listen in…

"I just don't see the point to it, is all I'm sayin'," Zafirah explained.

"You're not enjoying the garden, then?" Kuei asked nervously. He twisted his hands, which were clasped behind his back.

"Oh, no, it's not that. It's all very pretty, I just don't see much point in it," she said. "Imagine all the water it takes to keep it lookin' this nice!"

"A privilege of location, to be sure," Kuei agreed.

"By which you mean, a privilege of not bein' in the desert," she pointed out with a smirk. Kuei chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"And these fish! I figure they're not for eating?" Zafirah asked.

"Not usually, no," Kuei agreed. "They're more ornamental than anything else." He twisted his hands again. They were sweating badly by now, and his heart was hammering. He shot a glance around the garden, trying to pick out a good spot where he could talk privately with Zafirah. But everywhere he looked, he saw more people! It seemed as though half the town had decided that this was the perfect evening for a stroll in the garden. And every time they came to a relatively empty area, his throat would go dry. That certainly wasn't helping.

After a while, they found a koi pond tucked away in a corner of the garden. A cherry blossom tree hung over it, dropping pale pink petals into the still water. There was a stone bench beside the pond, but Zafirah ignored it and sat down right at the water's edge. She dipped her fingers into the water and a small koi swam up to her. Its body gleamed silver in the murky water, save for an orange blotch on the top of its head. The fish swam about her hand for a moment and then started mouthing at her fingertips.

"Sorry, little fish," she said with a laugh. "I don't have any food for you." It kept right on nibbling at her hand, undaunted. Kuei laughed along with Zafirah as they watched the fish, and he smiled at the happiness on her face as she played with the koi. He could see the wonderment in her spirit, a liveliness that had survived her harsh life in the desert. At times like these, he could see it shining like a candle.

And then Kuei realized something: this was it… the perfect moment. There was no one else around, and he couldn't have asked for a nicer spot. The red and orange glow of the setting sun reflected off the pond's glassy surface, and its light seemed to set the cherry blossoms afire. He couldn't imagine a better chance.

Kuei sat down next to Zafirah, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. _Just say it,_ he scolded himself. _What's the worst that could happen?_

…_She could laugh at me. Oh Spirits. No, Zafirah's not cruel enough to do a thing like that. Just say it. Just tell her…_

Kuei took a deep breath. It did nothing to steady his nerves. "Za—"

"Oh wow, look at that!" she exclaimed at the same moment. A big, orange koi zoomed across the pond, chasing away the silver-and-orange one. It nipped at her fingertips, and then drifted away when the attempt failed to yield any food. "Ha! Joke's on you, big guy," Zafirah told the orange koi as it swam away. Then she glanced up at him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, were you about to say something?"

"I… I've forgotten what it was," Kuei lied.

"Huh, oh well. Maybe you'll remember it later," she suggested, shrugging one slender shoulder.

"Yes, perhaps," Kuei agreed weakly. Zafirah rose gracefully to her feet, brushing the dirt off of her tunic. Kuei stood up as well, cursing himself for losing his nerve. They walked on through the garden. He glanced over at Zafirah and noticed that she looked deep in thought. She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke.

"Um, hey, Kuei? I…" Her voice faltered, much to his surprise. What was on her mind? She put on a smile that looked strangely forced. "I'm hungry! Let's go get some dinner."

"All right," he agreed, somewhat puzzled. They left the garden and headed back into the town itself, on the lookout for restaurants. Eventually, they both spotted one that looked promising. It was fairly small, with a covered patio in front. Low tables surrounded a fire pit to keep off the chill as night fell. The waiter seated them at a table by the fire pit and handed them a pair of menus. After perusing the parchment pages for a couple of minutes, Kuei noticed that Zafirah was staring at hers, reading it over and over.

"Having trouble deciding?" he asked lightly.

"I've never seen this many food choices before," she mumbled, her nose still buried in the menu. "Back at the cantina, we didn't even have anything written down like this. You just asked the bartender what he had that day."

"Ah," he said. He couldn't help but wonder what she'd think of Ba Sing Se, then, with its countless restaurants and types of food. "Well," he said, "Liu paid us our wages today, so we can afford to try a few things."

"Sure," she agreed. But after another couple of minutes, Kuei noticed that she was still staring blankly at her menu, and that there was an increasingly deep frown furrowing her brow.

"Does anything look good to you?" he asked. "We can go somewhere else if nothing here appeals to you."

"No, it's fine," she muttered, slouching down behind her menu. Then she sat up again and put on a strained smile. "How 'bout you pick something, huh? Surprise me."

Kuei frowned, suddenly worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked cautiously. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and she glanced uneasily around the patio. Kuei followed her gaze, but he saw nothing in particular. The patio was mostly empty. Finally, she turned her stare down at the table and muttered something under her breath. "Sorry?" Kuei asked.

She let out an annoyed huff and leaned forward. "I can't read it, okay?" she hissed. Kuei sat back in his chair, stunned.

"Oh," he breathed. Well, now he felt truly inconsiderate. The possibility had never even occurred to him…

"I mean, I can read a few words of it—I think that one there says 'duck'—but, Spirits, I don't know…" She snorted in frustration. "Bleeding hogmonkeys, I can't even remember the last time I had to _read_ something." She threw the menu down on the table and folded her arms tightly across her chest.

"What about, um, writing?" he ventured, unsure of how to approach the topic.

"I know a little," she muttered. "Our parents taught us what they could—really, it was just enough to run the weapons shop. I probably know a little more than Basam, actually. All the times he skipped lessons to go practice his Bending with his buddies. Mom and Dad never really pushed the issue. We're not stupid," she added sharply, glancing up at him.

"I know," Kuei assured her. She looked away again.

"It just…didn't seem all that important, y'know?" she went on. "Words and writing, they weren't…"

"They weren't as much of a priority," Kuei said softly. She lifted her head and met his eyes again.

"Exactly," she agreed. "We had more useful things to learn." Kuei thought of all the times he'd told them about his education; suddenly he felt terrible about it, as though he'd been flaunting his good fortune. However, an idea popped into his head—a way to share the wealth, as it were.

"I could help you, if you'd like," he said, smiling.

"How's that?" she asked, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"I could try to help you learn," he said. "Basam, too, if he's interested."

The frown vanished from her face. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, of course!" he agreed. "It would be an honor."

That lovely smile that he knew so well appeared again. "Y'know what, I think I'll take you up on that offer," Zafirah said. She picked up the menu again. "You can start with this!" Kuei chuckled and scooted his chair around so that he sat next to her. She scooted over as well, until her shoulder bumped against his.

She jabbed a finger at a character on the page. "Yes, that means 'duck'," he said. "That one before it tells you that it's roasted." He kept his voice down as he spoke, mindful of maintaining their privacy. The lesson went on for another couple of minutes, with Zafirah pointing to words and Kuei explaining them. Then Zafirah glanced upward and grew slightly tense.

Kuei followed her eyes, saw the waiter returning, and acted quickly. "Yes, you're right, those dumplings do sound tasty!" he said, raising his voice a little. Zafirah caught on right away.

"Yeah, we'll definitely have to try those," she agreed. The waiter greeted them with a friendly smile.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked placidly. Kuei nodded and ordered dumplings, noodles, and roast duck.

"Thanks," Zafirah whispered to Kuei as the waiter walked away.

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling again.

"So, how're you holding up with all the farm work?" Zafirah asked.

"Fine, thank you," Kuei replied. They made idle small talk until the food arrived. The meal was delicious, but it wasn't until the waiter came back with an offer of dessert that Zafirah's eyes really lit up.

"What d'you have?" she asked eagerly. Kuei chuckled at her sweet tooth.

"Our special tonight is an egg custard tart," the waiter said.

Zafirah arched a dubious eyebrow. "Egg custard?" she echoed.

"You'll love it," Kuei assured her, smiling. "Two egg custards, please," he said, addressing the waiter. The waiter bowed and left, leaving them in silence. Kuei cleared his throat, suddenly nervous again and searching for something to say.

"So, um, how did the Earthbending practice go?" he asked. "Basam mentioned that you and he were going over some of it this morning."

"Yeah. We didn't do any actual Bending, though. We just did some stances. It went pretty well though," she said.

"Oh. Good." And there went that topic.

"You seem kinda… shifty. Is everything okay?" Zafirah asked. She looked worried.

"Yes, everything's all right," he said swiftly. _Aside from my lack of courage,_ he added silently. She nodded, but she still looked faintly perturbed. _Oh no, what if she thinks I regret asking her out? _he wondered. But then the waiter came back with their tarts and Zafirah had more pressing matter to attend to. She picked up the tart, eying it suspiciously. Then she raised it to her lips and sniffed it a little. She opened her mouth and took a bite, sinking her teeth into the golden custard and flaky pastry.

Her eyes went wide. "'S delicious!" she exclaimed around a mouthful of tart.

Kuei smiled widely at her. "I knew you'd like it," he said happily. He picked up his own tart and bit into it. She was right—the tart was fantastic. It was even better than the ones the royal cooks had made in Ba Sing Se.

Once their dessert was finished, they paid and left the restaurant. It was dark now and the streets were lit up with the yellow glow from rows of ornate lanterns. They kept walking, and soon they heard distant notes of music up ahead. They followed the sound and came to a small square. A fountain splashed and trickled at its center, but Kuei could hardly see it behind the crowd gathered at the near end of the square.

"Well, that explains the music," Kuei said. There was a small band set up in the corner closest to them, playing their instruments atop a low dais. He could see some people in the crowd dancing, while others just stood or sat and listened. Right away, Zafirah grabbed Kuei's arm and pulled him over to the crowd.

"Let's go dance!" she suggested.

He glanced over at her, startled. "Dance?" he repeated.

"Yeah, c'mon! It'll be fun!" she insisted. "You remember this one, right? From the desert?" She started dancing, swaying side to side while her arms moved gracefully. Sure enough, Kuei recognized it as the one Amaris had taught him. He lifted his arms and followed her steps—or at least, he tried to. As it turned out, remembering a dance and remembering how to do it were two entirely separate things. Zafirah smiled and kept to a nice, slow pace while he tried to re-learn the steps.

The music picked up and so did the pace of their dance. They moved faster, twisting around each other, stepping close and then springing away again. They would clasp hands, slide past each other and then go through the steps back to back before swinging back around to face each other. Zafirah tried gamely to repress a laugh as he stumbled through the steps, but he found himself laughing right along with her. He slowly started to get the hang of it, moving more easily now. After two songs, he could finally keep up.

The third song ended with a flourish and the band took a bow, to the thunderous applause of the onlookers. Kuei and Zafirah clapped along with them. Then Zafirah turned towards Kuei, an exhilarated smile on her face.

"See? Told you it'd be fun!" she crowed.

"You were right," he agreed. "And I didn't even step on your feet too often." She laughed heartily at that. He chuckled as well, his heart soaring at the joy lighting up her face. _Tell her!_ he ordered himself. He shot a quick look around the square; they were at the back of the crowd, and no one was really paying attention to them, anyway. The rest of the square was empty. Perhaps if they could go and sit by the fountain…

Kuei took another deep breath, and it almost helped this time. But before he could open his mouth to speak, two men bumped rudely into them. They were both guffawing loudly and they reeked of alcohol. They slurred some cheerful nonsense at Kuei and Zafirah before stumbling away. Zafirah snorted at them and shook her head, smirking.

"At least they're having a good time," she said jokingly, jerking her thumb after the men. Kuei laughed, but honestly, part of him wanted to kick those two. He looked at Zafirah again, but the moment was well and truly ruined. He repressed a sigh, defeated once again.

"Shall we keep walking?" he asked.

"Sure." They moved away from the square. After a few minutes, something caught Zafirah's eye. "Ooh, a Pai Sho table!" she exclaimed. She pointed at a teahouse off to their left; sure enough, Kuei saw a row of Pai Sho tables through the shop's wide front windows.

"I didn't know you played Pai Sho," he commented.

"Don't sound so surprised," she teased. "An old man taught me, back at the Oasis. His name was Fung. He'd always sit there at that table, waiting for someone to challenge him." Then the happy expression slid off her face. "He was with the prisoners that the Fire Nation took that night. I wonder how he's doing…" she murmured. Kuei wanted to reassure her, but he knew there was nothing he could say.

"Well, then, let's see how much of his lessons you've remembered," he said lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She sniffled faintly, then looked up at him and smiled. They went in, ordered a pot of jasmine tea, and took a seat at a vacant table.

He let Zafirah have the first move. She sat there for a minute or two, examining the tiles and rubbing her chin. She reached out towards one, hesitated, then picked another tile and set it on the board with a _click_. It was a fairly ordinary opening move. Kuei quickly picked a tile of his own and placed it down. Zafirah made a soft _hmm_ sound and deliberated over her tiles again. She set her next piece in place—another standard move. After a few more turns, though, she started to gain some confidence. What had seemed at first like a cut-and-dried game was rapidly becoming more and more surprising. Old Fung had been quite a teacher, whoever he was. Zafirah was grinning by then, and he knew that grin. He usually saw it when they were facing down Firebenders. It was slightly unnerving.

Kuei placed another tile and Zafirah chortled. "You know, part of the game is in keeping your strategy to yourself. I'm not sure that sinister laughter is very helpful to that end," he said dryly. Zafirah scoffed and waved a dismissive hand.

"Please. _This_ is a sinister laugh!" She let out a sharp cackle, drawing annoyed glares from neighboring tables. Kuei coughed to mask a laugh. He had to admit, though, that she was right about it being more sinister. He poured himself another cup of tea while Zafirah made her next move. She placed a tile and sat back, sipping from her own teacup with exaggerated elegance. He smiled and confidently placed another tile. She'd played a good game, but there were only a handful of moves that could get her out of the trap he'd set.

"Oho! A bold move, sir!" Zafirah exclaimed. She picked up a tile, but she deliberately placed her hand so he couldn't see which one. "But not as bold as… _this_!" She set the tile down with a flourish and Kuei's jaw dropped. He gaped at the board, astonished. Only a handful of moves, and she'd picked one of the least known! Zafirah leaned forward over the board, grinning at him. "What d'you say to _that_, hmm?" she teased, her lips curling in a victorious smirk.

Kuei opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. All he could think about was her. The words still wouldn't come. Instead, he reached out to cup her cheek in the palm of his left hand, leaned across the game board, and pressed his lips to hers. It only lasted a moment but oh, her mouth felt so soft and so wonderful. He pulled back, his heart slamming against his ribs and his hands shaking. Zafirah stared at him; her eyes were round and wide, her cheeks red and her mouth hanging open. And she kept staring. Kuei's heart sank, dread welling up within him.

"S-sorry. I'm sorry," he blurted. "I shouldn't have… I'm sorry." He leaped up out of his chair and fled the teahouse. He didn't pay any attention to where he was going. He could hardly even see. _What have I done?_

* * *

_He kissed me. Kuei kissed me,_ Zafirah thought hazily. _And then he… ran off? Oh Spirits, he thinks I'm upset! _She could've laughed at the stupidity of the mix-up. In that moment, all the confusion she'd felt flew right out of her head. In that moment, she made her decision once and for all. She tossed a couple coins onto the table, to pay for the tea, and sprinted out of the teahouse.

Out on the street, she glanced around wildly. There! She caught a glimpse of his tall frame disappearing around the corner at the end of the street. She tore off after him. Her bare feet slapped against the smooth stone as she hurtled ahead. Kuei glanced nervously over his shoulder as she caught up to him. He looked like he was bracing himself for a smack, or at least a good yelling-at.

Well, she had a surprise for him. She grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and flung her arms around his neck. Then she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him with all her heart. He gasped against her mouth, and then he kissed back, hesitantly at first, his hands reaching up to cup her cheeks gently. His mouth moved clumsily against hers and she was pretty sure that this was his first real kiss.

They were probably blocking traffic or something, standing in the middle of the street and all. She didn't care. She didn't care about much of anything, in fact, except for Kuei's lips against hers, and his arms snaking around her waist to pull her close. She could feel his fingertips pressing into her back as he kissed her harder. Her heart was beating so hard that she was sure he could feel it against his own chest. She tightened her arms around his neck, pressing her body flush against his.

They finally pulled apart, both gasping for air. "I—uh—t-that was…" Kuei stammered, his face bright red. Then he stopped himself and cleared his throat. "I've been wanting to do that for a while," he admitted breathlessly.

Zafirah smirked up at him. "Yeah? So how's the real thing compare to what you imagined?" she asked, arching her eyebrows. He opened his mouth wordlessly, then sighed and kissed her again.

* * *

They decided to walk back to the farm. It wasn't that far, and neither of them felt like waiting around for a ride on a cart filled with rowdy farmhands. And besides, they weren't in any hurry.

The lights of the village faded behind them as they walked along the coastal road. Soon they had vanished, and the light of the moon and stars lit their way. They walked hand-in-hand at first, but then Zafirha sidled closer, wrapped her arm around his waist, and pressed her cheek against his chest, sighing deeply. Kuei glanced down at her and then carefully slipped his arm around Zafirah's shoulders, pulling her close against his side. She was so _warm_, as though she held the heat of her homeland deep within herself.

It was a peaceful night. He could hear the waves booming on the shore to their right. The land to the left of the road was all farmland; Kuei could see the distant flicker of lights from farmhouses, set far back from the road.

They walked along in silence; Kuei couldn't think of anything that needed to be said. Zafirah now knew how he felt and, miraculously, she felt the same. He could scarcely believe how lucky he was. He stroked his thumb against Zafirah's upper arm, his chest aching from all the barely-constrained happiness within it.

Eventually, Zafirah halted and tapped her fingers against his waist. "Let's stop and sit a while," she suggested, nodding towards the beach. They stepped off the road and onto the sand, heading down towards the water. They stopped halfway down the beach and sat down on the cold sand. Zafirah scooted up against Kuei, leaning into his embrace. He drew his arms tightly around her.

They sat there for a while, just watching the inky black waves crash against the beach. Kuei pressed his cheek against the top of her head, enjoying the softness of her hair and the feeling of her body pressed next to his.

"It's strange," he mumbled, almost to himself.

"Strange?" Zafirah echoed. He could feel her tense up.

"Not in a bad way," he added quickly. "It's just that, well, I left the Avatar's group without a destination in mind. I ended up in the desert by random choice… and somehow, I found _you_." He gently placed his fingertips beneath her chin and tilted her head up, looking into her eyes.

She smiled at him. "Actually, I'm pretty sure it was me that did the finding," she pointed out. He chuckled and nodded, remembering how she'd approached him in the cantina that day.

"I'm glad you did," he said softly. He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"Me too," she whispered. He ducked his head and kissed her again. He felt so inept kissing her. Zafirah most likely had more experience in these matters than he did—he recalled that Shai had been her boyfriend, which meant that she'd had at least one past romance. He couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious at his own inexperience. And he definitely felt a bit nervous.

Every touch of their lips sent heat flooding through his veins. It was like a bolt of lightning, except it felt so very good. She pressed the palm of her left hand against his cheek, sliding her hand back to work her fingers into his hair. She pulled back from the kiss and her forehead creased.

"Hmm…" She reached up and quickly undid his topknot, stuffing the cloth cord into her pocket. Then she combed her fingers through his hair and grinned. "Much better," she announced. Then she yanked him down and went right back to kissing him, her fingers tangled in his hair. He wasn't quite sure what to do with his own hands; after a moment of hesitation, he settled one hand gently on her waist, his other hand braced against the sand. She scooted even closer, then pulled her mouth away from his and pressed her lips against his jaw. Then she lowered her head and her lips brushed his neck. He sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes closing. His fingers tightened on her waist as he felt his body starting to react to her attentions.

The rattle of cart wheels on the road made them pull apart. Kuei glanced up across the beach and saw the lantern-lit cart trundling along. The faint strains of a melody drifted down to them as the driver sang to himself. Kuei wasn't sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved. Zafirah chuckled breathlessly and smoothed back the locks of hair framing her face.

"We should probably get back," she muttered, giving him an almost shy smile.

"Y-yes," Kuei agreed hazily. No, he was definitely disappointed. But at the same time, the interruption was probably a good thing. Or so he tried to tell himself, at any rate. He stood up, helping Zafirah up as well. They walked back to the road, hands clasped tightly together.

Half an hour later, Kuei felt a twinge as the farmhand house came into view. He couldn't help but be a little sad that the night was over already. Zafirah leaned her head against his upper arm as they approached the warm, flickering lantern light spilling out around the front door. Kuei slid the door open and they walked slowly down the hall until they reached Zafirah's room. They stopped outside the sliding door and Zafirah turned towards him. She smiled up at him, placing her left palm against the side of his face. He sighed and leaned into her touch.

"Good night, Kuei," she murmured.

"Good night," he echoed. He felt like he ought to say something else, but what? Instead, he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Good night, Zafirah."

"Good night—again," she teased lightly. He flushed as he realized he'd said it twice, and then he chuckled as he let her fingers slip free of his. She gave him a little wave, winked at him, turned and disappeared into her room. Kuei stumbled back to his own room, beaming from ear to ear.

Basam was sound asleep when he entered the room—or so he thought, anyway.

"So I guess it went well?" Kuei jumped at the sudden sound of the Sandbender man's voice. He turned and saw the younger man peeking out at him from beneath a half-open eyelid.

"Yes," Kuei agreed dreamily. Basam chortled and shut his eyes again.

"Glad to hear it. I was starting to think you two would never get your act together," he said cheerily. "Just remember one thing, Kuei: if you hurt her, or break her heart…"

"You'll beat me to a pulp?" Kuei guessed.

Basam snorted. "Nah. There wouldn't be anything left for me to beat on by the time Zafi was done with you." Kuei chuckled nervously. "Zafi doesn't need my help with her menfolk, believe me. She'd have it if she wanted it, of course, but generally, I don't interfere," Basam continued. "I trust her judgment. If she thinks you're good enough for her, then I'm happy for the both of you."

Kuei smiled. "Thank you," he said. He pulled off his shirt, put it aside and collapsed onto his futon. Sleep didn't come for a while, though, but he wasn't too concerned by that. He stared up at the darkened ceiling, gazing into the shadows splayed across it. He smiled again—he couldn't help it. He was completely, utterly, and perfectly happy.

* * *

**I have been waiting so long to write this chapter, you have no idea. :D After sixteen chapters, one prologue, and three interludes, I finally got them together. ^_^ OMG so happy. I literally did a victory dance while writing this.**

**Playlist! The best playlist everrrr!**

**1. "Kiss The Girl" [The Little Mermaid]—LOL yeah, I don't need to add anything here.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ? v=Yj2WV0J5egM**

**2. "Kingdom Dance" [Tangled]—Chapter theme.**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ? v=XYfySVrQxto**

**3. "L. O. V. E." by V V Brown—IDK, you decide where this one goes!**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ? v=zi2ggnF5_3I**

**4. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" [The Lion King, Original Broadway Cast Recording]—Yeah, I used this song, that's right!**

**http : / / www. youtube. com / watch ? v=jYGFqF80gCE**


	21. Chapter 17

**Hello, sorry for the delay! I had a teeny bit of writer's block, and then I got distracted by a movie called The Thief and the Cobbler: Recobbled Cut. It's a great movie! It's very much like Aladdin. In fact, Disney has said that lots of things in Aladdin were actually inspired by this movie! I highly recommend it. (The entire movie is on Youtube. I have a link to it in my profile.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17—DISTRACTIONS**

The next morning, Kuei got to sleep in for once. And when he finally woke up around mid-morning, he found himself in an exceptionally good mood. It took him a few moments to remember why. He beamed from ear to ear and scrambled up out of his tangled blankets to quickly get dressed. Kuei shot a look over at the other futon bed as he walked to the door; Basam was still sound asleep with one arm draped over his face. Kuei considered waking him, then decided against it. Today was their day off, after all.

He slid the door open as silently as he could and stepped out into the hallway. The farmhand house was quiet that morning. He crept down the hall to Zafirah's room, where he hesitated at the door. What if she was still asleep? He raised his fist to knock and then lowered it. He strained his ears, trying to pick up any sounds of activity from within, but he heard nothing. He lifted his fist again, dropped it once more—and then the door slid open and Zafirah stepped out, bumping into him. They both jumped back a step. Kuei's cheeks heated up a little, but he saw that Zafirah was blushing as well.

Zafirah recovered first, giving a breathless little laugh and pushing a lock of hair out of her face. "Mornin'," she said.

"Uh, good morning," he said quickly. "I-I was just coming by to see if you were awake yet."

Zafirah grinned. "Funny, I was just on my way to do the same thing," she said.

"Ah," Kuei said. He was suddenly very nervous again. Zafirah was standing there before him with an amused smile on her face and he found himself completely at a loss. "How did you sleep?" he ventured to ask.

"Not too bad, but I did have some trouble keeping my eyes shut at first," she said, her grin turning into a smirk.

"As did I," Kuei replied. What in the world was he supposed to do now? Zafirah's smirk softened and she stretched her hand out to him, beckoning with her fingertips.

"Let's go get some breakfast," she suggested. He nodded and took her warm, callused hand, twining his fingers with hers. _I suppose I'll just have to take all of this one step at a time,_ he thought. He glanced sideways and saw a furrow in Zafirah's brow.

"What's the matter?" he asked. She looked up and put on a smile.

"I just had a bad dream last night, that's all," she said.

"Oh," he said, concerned. "Do you, er, want to talk about it?"

There was a pause before she spoke again. "It was about our tribe. The Fire Nation attack," she said quietly.

"Ah." Kuei exhaled slowly, wishing he knew what to say to reassure her. He put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly.

As soon as they stepped outside, Bosco lumbered over to them with a happy growl. The bear sat up on his hindquarters and licked Kuei's face. He laughed and patted the bear's head.

"Good morning to you, too, Bosco," Kuei said. "I hope that you, at least, had no trouble falling asleep last night?" The bear roared and bobbed his head.

"Y'know, sometimes, I could swear he actually understands what you're sayin'," Zafirah commented with a chuckle. Kuei shot her a sidelong look and smiled.

"What makes you so sure that he can't?" he replied, arching his eyebrows. Bosco roared again and clapped his massive front paws together. Zafirah looked back and forth between them, then laughed and shook her head. Then the bear let out a low gurgle and sniffed curiously at their joined hands. "It's all right, Bosco," Kuei assured the bear. Bosco sniffed again and then reared up again and licked Zafirah's cheek. She let out an undignified squawk and wiped her face with the back of her free hand.

"I guess he approves, huh?" she muttered. Kuei didn't reply; he was too busy laughing. Then Zafirah laughed along with him and rubbed behind Bosco's ear. "Thanks, Furball," she said. They strolled across the dirt yard to the main house, leaving Bosco at the door and heading into the kitchen. Mrs. Liu usually had three kitchen staff helping her cook, but it was their day off as well. On days off, the farmhands were left to either prepare their own food or go into town for their meals.

"What should we make?" Kuei wondered as they walked into the kitchen. Zafirah padded over to a ceramic jar sitting on the countertop. She peered inside and smiled.

"Jook," she announced. She held out the jar; Kuei looked inside and saw cooked rice. He guessed that it was left over from Mr. and Mrs. Liu's dinner the night before.

"That sounds good," Kuei agreed. It had been a while since he'd last had rice porridge; breakfasts at the royal palace had tended to be much fancier than that, so he'd usually only eaten it when sick. "How do we make it?"

"You find a pot to cook it in. I'll go and get some water." She grabbed a pail hanging from a hook on the wall. Kuei watched her saunter out of the room and smiled to himself. Then she paused in the doorway and shot him a wink over her shoulder, making him blush. _Find a cooking pot,_ he reminded himself. He quickly dug around in the kitchen cupboards until he found one. He set the pot on a hook in the fireplace and quickly started a fire burning beneath it. Zafirah came back, lugging the pail of water. They dumped the water and rice into the pot.

"Now what?" Kuei asked.

"Just let it sit, give it a stir every so often till it's got the right thickness," Zafirah said.

"Ah. And how long will that take?" he asked.

Zafirah shrugged. "There's not really a rule about it or anything."

"Ah." Now that they had nothing further to do, Kuei felt the nervousness return. He sat down by the small kitchen table, crossing his legs and tapping his fingers against his knees. Zafirah came over and sat down next to him. He managed to smile at her, which she returned warmly. _How am I supposed to proceed here? _he wondered. What was appropriate? What happened next? Well, no, he did have some idea. There were… certain obvious ways in which a relationship differed from friendship, but he hadn't the faintest clue how to go about bringing up _that_ subject with Zafirah. Although it was certainly a subject that he wouldn't mind exploring with her…

For now, though, he simply reached out and gently placed his hand on hers. She laced her fingers with his and her smile widened. Then she scooted closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes. For a while, they just sat there contentedly. Zafirah pulled away slightly and Kuei opened his eyes to see her smirking up at him. She grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him forward, pressing her lips softly against his. Just like the night before, that sweet contact between them filled him with warmth. He kissed back, still feeling clumsy. And he still couldn't figure out what to do with his hands! He left them resting on his knees.

Then she bumped into his glasses, knocking them askew. They pulled apart, Kuei laughing sheepishly. He took the glasses off and set them down on the table, then turned back to Zafirah. What was he supposed to do, though, now that the moment had been interrupted? _Do I just… start kissing her again?_ he wondered. Then a better question popped into his head: _Why not?_ He ducked his head and kissed her, more boldly than before. She kissed back with even more energy, reaching one hand up to curl her slender fingers around the back of his neck.

And then a bubbling sound caught Kuei's attention. He reluctantly pulled away from Zafirah and glanced over at the fireplace.

"Um, our porridge seems to be boiling," he said breathlessly. Zafirah swore and scrambled over to the pot, grabbing the long-handled spoon and stirring it. The porridge was done soon after that, and Kuei grabbed a pair of bowls from the cupboard.

Basam walked in as they sat down to eat, yawning and stretching. "Good mornin'," he said with another yawn. He glanced at the bowls on the table and sniffed appreciatively. "Is there any more of that?" he asked. Zafirah gestured to the pot hanging in the fireplace.

"Help yourself," she said. Basam filled a bowl and sat down at the table next to them. A mischievous grin crept over his face and he looked at his sister. "So, what's the plan for today? Any chance we could get some Earthbending practice in, or are you two gonna be joined at the lips all day?" he teased. Kuei nearly choked on a mouthful of porridge.

Zafirah smirked again. "Oh, I guess I could clear some time in my busy kissin' schedule to chuck rocks around with my dear brother," she teased right back. Kuei coughed and hurried off to get a drink of water. Basam chortled and dug into his meal.

* * *

After breakfast, they headed down to the beach across the road from Liu's farmland. The shoreline there had rock outcroppings all along it—Zafirah figured it'd be the perfect place for some Earthbending practice.

As they walked down to the beach, Zafirah's mind went back to the nightmare she'd had. The gruesome scenes flashed through her mind's eye again, churning her stomach and making her jaw clench.

"You all right?" Basam asked, nudging her with his elbow.

"I had some rough dreams," she muttered. "Hey, you ever dream about… y'know, the Fire Nation attack?"

He nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "All the time," he muttered. He lightly jabbed her shoulder with his knuckles. "You gotta keep your head up, though. We did what we could for the ones that didn't make it, and for the ones that got captured… well, our tribe's tough! Wherever they are, I'm sure they're helping each other get through it."

"Yeah," Zafirah murmured. They reached the shoreline and she couldn't help but cheer up a little at the prospect of getting to do some Bending.

"C'mon, Basam," Zafirah said. She scrambled up onto a flat slab of rock that jutted out into the waves, Basasm following behind her. Kuei and Bosco watched them from the sand. Zafirah put her hands on her hips and looked around, tapping her toes on the rock. "Yeah, this'll do," she decided, smiling.

Basam bounced on the balls of his feet, fists raised. "So what're we starting with?" he asked, excited.

"Hmm, I dunno. Let's try making a crack in the rock or something," Zafirah suggested. "Maybe we can break off a chunk and use it to practice moving rocks around."

"Good plan," Basam agreed. They took their horse stances side by side.

"Okay, so, you remember all that chi stuff we talked about?"

"Sure."

"Try to tap into that again."

"Okay, sure." Basam shut his eyes, concentrating hard. Zafirah focused herself, too, drawing upon the chi source that Daiyu had taught her about. "So, what's the movement for cracking stone?"

Zafirah paused. "Uh… I'm not sure, actually," she admitted.

"Oh, oh, hold on!" Kuei exclaimed. He dashed over to the rock and clambered up onto it. "I remember seeing this in a scroll, in the royal library," he said. "Hmm, now, how did it go?" He planted his feet apart with his knees bent, brought both fists up sharply, then sliced his right hand out and to the side. Nothing happened, of course. "I'm sure it's more impressive with actual Earthbending," he said, shrugging awkwardly.

Zafirah bit the inside of her lip, trying not to laugh. "I'm sure," she agreed dryly. Then she pulled him down by the front of his tunic and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for trying, anyway."

He gave her an awkward smile. "I suppose I'll just, ah, go swimming," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. He scrambled down off the rock and walked across the beach towards the water.

"Okay, let's try this!" Basam said eagerly, rubbing his hands together. They took their stances again.

"All right," Zafirah muttered, raising her fists. "One, two, thuh…" She trailed off in mid-word and her gaze slid to the side as she caught sight of Kuei dropping his tunic to the ground. He was facing out towards the water, giving her a view of his back. It was a great view. Then he dropped his pants, too, kicking them away and bolting towards the water.

"Come on, Bosco!" he yelled, his voice drifting over. The bear roared and ambled after him, splashing into the shallows. Kuei laughed as he plunged into the water.

Basam's hand waved in front of Zafirah's face, making her jump. "Hello?" he called.

She whipped around, her face hot, and glared at her brother's teasing grin. "Shut up," she muttered, jabbing a finger at him.

"Hey, I didn't say anything!" he said innocently. "We gonna do some Earthbending or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," she agreed. Then she paused, thinking. "Actually, I got an idea I wanna try out. It popped into my head this morning when I was getting dressed."

"What kind of idea?" Basam asked curiously.

"Well," she started slowly, "The biggest thing that keeps us Sandbenders from Bending rock is that it's so different from sand, right? You remember what that Professor Zei guy said once? That Sandbending is more like Waterbending than regular Earthbending?"

"Sure, I remember," Basam said.

"So, what we need is something that's halfway between sand and stone," Zafirah said.

"You mean sand compression?" Basam asked.

"Yeah. If we make a ball of sand and pack it in real tight and dense, it might be like Bending stone," she said. "It's still sand, but it's more solid, like stone would be."

Basam frowned, considering it. Then a wide smile split his face. "That's brilliant, Zafi!" he exclaimed. "I think you're right, it could work! Let's try it." They walked about ten paces apart and stood facing each other. The twins raised their arms and raised a sand tornado from the beach. Zafirah smiled, feeling warmed from inside as the familiar motion came back to her. It'd been ages since she'd gotten to do this.

They got the tornado whirling faster and faster, and then they held their hands out, palms forward, and pressed. The tornado spun into a ball that shrank in on itself, getting smaller and tighter. Finally, they lowered their hands and the sand ball lowered with them, sinking to the ground.

"Sure looks like a boulder to me," Basam said, putting his fists on his hips. "We oughta make another one, so we both get one." Zafirah nodded. They started another tornado spinning, and in no time at all they had a second sand boulder. Then they lined the two sand boulders up and stood side by side.

"Ready?" Zafirah asked, sinking into her horse stance.

"Ready!" Basam replied, his forehead furrowed in concentration.

"One…" Zafirah said.

"Two…" Basam said.

"Three!" they shouted together. They punched their fists forward and the sand boulder sailed across the sand. A wide grin broke out across Zafirah's face as triumph surged through her. The hardened sand was more sluggish than usual, but not as stubborn as rock.

"It worked!" she exclaimed, pumping her fists in the air.

Basam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Good call, Zafi," he said.

"Thanks," she said, feeling more than a little proud of herself. Moving together, she and her brother thrust their right hands out and summoned their sand boulders back with a curl of their fingers. Basam launched his into the air with a stomp of his foot. It soared up high above their heads, then crashed down and cracked into pieces.

"Sand, dear brother. Sand, not stone," Zafirah reminded Basam, smirking widely.

"Heh, yeah, sorry," Basam said, rubbing the back of his neck.

A while later, Zafirah was winding up for a kick when Kuei spoke up from behind her. "How's the Earthbending going?" he asked. Zafirah let out a yelp and kicked a little too hard; the ball flew across the sand, shot past a startled Basam, and exploded against the rock outcropping they'd been on earlier.

"Hey, watch it!" Basam yelled, waving his arms at her.

"Sorry!" she shouted back. She turned around to tell Kuei about their new technique, but once again her words caught in her throat. He was just standing there, soaking wet, with drops of water streaming down his chest and arms and legs, and apparently completely unaware of what this was doing to her.

He smiled expectantly. "So? How is your practice going?" he asked again.

"Uh," she replied. She gave herself a mental shake. "It's goin' great! We've got a new technique we're trying out." Then she smirked and slid her arm around his waist, eying him appreciatively. "And how was your swim?" she asked.

He blushed under her gaze and chuckled nervously. "Ah, it was very nice," he said quickly. Then he smiled and laughed more openly. "It was lots of fun, really! It's been ages since I've gotten to do that much swimming."

"Glad to hear it," Zafirah said, smiling back. Then Bosco lumbered up the beach to join them, his fur matted with water and sand. He roared and shook himself.

"Ugh, Bosco, stop that!" Zafirah exclaimed, raising her arms against the flying clumps of wet hair and sand. She flicked her hand towards the bear and the clumps froze in midair. Kuei laughed.

* * *

That evening, the three of them went into Meihui for dinner. After they'd finished their meal, they decided to stop by the botanical garden again, since Basam hadn't gotten to see it the night before. This time, though, Kuei and Zafirah walked hand-in-hand. He smiled at her as they strolled along the path; she winked at him and slid her arm around his waist. He gently rested his own arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"Nice place, here," Basam commented. He stopped to sniff at a bright purple flower. "I wonder how much water it takes to keep it all looking this nice."

Zafirah snorted. "I said the same thing last night!" she said.

"Hah! I'm not surprised," Basam replied teasingly. "So, how much water _does _it take?"

"Lots, I figure," Zafirah replied wryly. She idly tapped her fingers against Kuei's side. He smiled at her again, but it quickly turned to a frown as he caught sight of Bosco from the corner of his eye.

"Bosco, stop that!" he chided. The bear paused with his forepaw in the midst of swatting at the surface of a koi pond. Bosco lowered his head guiltily and growled, then lumbered after Kuei. Zafirah snickered beside him.

As they left the gardens a while later, a sudden memory sprang to the front of Kuei's mind. "Oh, that's right!" he exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. The two Sandbenders turned to stare at him.

"What? What's going on?" Zafirah asked, confused.

"The invasion, remember? The Avatar's plan to invade the Fire Nation capitol. I told you about it after the eclipse. If there's any news to be had about it, it'd surely have spread this far by now!" Kuei said quickly.

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Basam said. He rubbed his chin, considering for a moment. "Hey, let's see if we can find some merchants to ask. I mean, me and Zafi used to hear all kinds of news back at the oasis, just from talking to merchants."

"He's right," Zafirah agreed.

"All right," Kuei said eagerly. They wound their way through the crowds, Kuei setting a swift pace, until they reached the market on the eastern side of the town. The market square was almost empty at this hour, but there were still a few merchants with their wares on display.

"Let's split up," Zafirah suggested, "Ask as many people as we can." Kuei and Basam both nodded and they parted ways to begin their quest for information. Kuei spotted a flower vendor to his right and quickly walked over to it, with Bosco close on his heels.

The merchant grinned as he approached. "How about a flower for your lovely lady-friend?" the middle-aged man said with a knowing gleam in his eye. He gestured towards Zafirah. Kuei gave him a smile and another nod, perusing the selection of blooms. "That's a strange animal you got there," the merchant added.

"Yes, I suppose so," Kuei agreed. He chuckled. "He does get that reaction quite often."

"I can imagine," said the merchant. Kuei smiled and went back to examining the flowers.

"So," Kuei said, hoping to sound casual, "Have you heard any news from the war front lately?" He leaned over the cart, inspecting a cluster of orchids. He was all but holding his breath as he waited for the merchant to reply.

"The war front? _What_ war front?" the merchant said with a snort. "Ba Sing Se's fallen, the Northern Water Tribe's holed up even tighter than ever before… there ain't no war front, son."

Kuei's heart sank. "There hasn't been any news from, uh, from the Fire Nation, then?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"Why would there be?" the merchant grumbled. He then put on a forced smile and waved a hand towards his wares. "Anything striking your fancy?" he asked pointedly. Kuei picked a vivid, purple lily. He paid for the flower and left the stall. Two stalls later, he'd acquired an apple, a small bag of sugared almonds, and nothing but bad news. Dejected, he rejoined Zafirah and Basam at the edge of the square. From the looks on their faces, he could only assume that they hadn't had any more success. They retreated to the side of the road to talk.

"I got nothing," Zafirah said.

"Likewise," Basam said quietly. Kuei heaved a sigh and rubbed his right hand over his face, almost dislodging his glasses. Bosco whined and nudged his other hand sadly.

"That's it, then," he murmured. "Either the invasion failed, or it didn't happen at all."

"Maybe these guys just haven't gotten the news yet," Basam suggested, ever the optimist.

"No, I don't think so," Kuei said heavily. "We're on the western coast right now, at the closest point to the Fire Nation's outlying islands. If there were any news from the Fire Capitol, it would have reached this coast by now—especially if it were news of a major victory!" He groaned and pressed his knuckles against his temples. He felt a sudden surge of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

Zafirah placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and then cleared her throat after a moment. "So, uh, what's with the flower?" she asked, clearly trying to lighten the mood. Kuei glanced down and saw the lily still tucked carefully into his belt.

"Oh," he said, plucking it out. "It's, um, for you." He held it out to her.

Her face lit up as she took it from him. "Thanks! It's gorgeous," she said. Then her forehead furrowed and she raised an eyebrow at it. "Uh, what exactly do I do with it?"

"Well, I… I suppose you would put it in your hair," Kuei said. "Here, allow me." He took the flower and tucked it into her hair behind her ear. He let his fingers pause for a moment on the soft strands of her hair, then dropped his hand and managed a smile.

"How's it look?" Zafirah asked.

"It looks lovely," he said. Zafirah beamed at him, reaching up to touch the flower. Then Basam coughed and cleared his throat, smirking at them, and Kuei quickly drew back from her. "Oh, I also bought these," he added, pulling the apple and the bag of almonds from his pocket. Zafirah arched an eyebrow at him. "It seemed rude to press for information without buying anything," Kuei said, feeling a bit silly.

They cut the apple into thirds and shared it and the sugared almonds for dessert, sitting down on a stone bench in a vacant corner of the market square. But Kuei could hardly taste the treats through the guilt still gnawing at him. Zafirah noticed and nudged his arm.

"What's wrong?" Zafirah asked, her forehead furrowing. Kuei heaved a sigh, trying to find the right words.

"If there's no news, then there's been no victory; and if there's been no victory, then the Fire Nation still has the upper hand… and they still have Ba Sing Se by the throat," he said bitterly. "Here I am, playing around and having a good time while my city is still in enemy hands!"

Zafirah scowled and reached up to grab his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Listen to me, Kuei: there is nothing you can do about it right now!" she said firmly. "I know how bad you want to help them—how do you think me and Basam feel about our tribe? But you can't take back the city by yourself. _No one_ could do that, except maybe the Avatar. You wouldn't be helping anyone by going back there right now. You'd just get captured and maybe killed. All you can do right now is wait and hope, okay?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He looked away, frowning at the apple wedge in his hand. He remembered what she'd said that morning about her nightmare, and he knew that she felt a similar pain. Finally, he turned back to her and nodded. "I just wish there was something more I could do," he muttered.

"Maybe there is," Basam said contemplatively. "I mean, look what we managed to do during the eclipse! I bet there's a way we could still manage to mess with some Firebenders, just the three of us." Bosco whined, making Basam laugh. "Sorry, I meant the four of us," he said, patting the bear on the head.

Kuei smiled, buoyed by his friend's enthusiasm. "Perhaps you're right," he agreed.

"Sounds good to me!" Zafirah said, that particularly fierce grin of hers returning. "I'll take any chance to rile up some Firebenders."

Kuei chuckled at his friends' enthusiasm. He ate the rest of his apple wedge, his good mood returning. Even so, he couldn't ignore the guilt that lingered in his gut.

* * *

When they arrived back at the farm that night, the rest of the farmhands were gathered outside again, sitting around their usual fire and sipping rice wine. Basam went to join them, but Zafirah shook her head.

"Nah, no thanks," she said. "Maybe tomorrow."

"How about you, Kuei?" Basam asked.

"I think I'll pass," Kuei said, smiling. Bosco, however, grunted and sat down next to Basam. Kuei chuckled. "All right then, Bosco, you stay here. Good night," he said, patting Bosco's head. He gave the bear a hug and then followed Zafirah into the farmhand house. They walked down the lantern-lit hallway with their hands clasped until they reached her room. At the door, they stopped and faced each other.

"I feel like we've done this before," Zafirah joked.

Kuei chortled at that. "I know what you mean," he replied dryly. "Still," he added, his tone softening, "It's a routine I could get accustomed to."

"Hmm." Zafirah stepped close to him and reached up, sliding her arms around his neck. His breath caught in his throat as she brought her face within a hair's breadth of his. She grinned. "Me too," she purred.

"Hngh," was all the response he could manage. Her grin turned almost predatory as she pulled him down for a kiss. Her lips brushed lightly against his. His arms wrapped around her waist, drawing her body against him. When the kiss ended, Kuei pulled back breathlessly. Zafirah smiled up at him, much more softly this time.

"C'mon," she said, jerking her head towards the door. "Stay with me for a while."

"Um… all right," Kuei said nervously. He followed her through the sliding door, which she shut behind them. It was dark in her room; the only light came from the moon and the stars, spilling in through the open window in the far wall. Zafirah walked over to the lantern sitting on her dresser, lighting it with the spark rocks that sat beside it. The candle inside cast its flickering, orange light over her face as she turned back towards him. Zafirah walked the two or three paces back to him and slid her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He smiled, his arms encircling her to return the embrace. They stood that way in the middle of the room for a couple of minutes, just enjoying each other's presence.

After a moment, Kuei decided to be bold. He drew back from her a little, lifted her chin with his fingertips and kissed her gently. She sighed quietly against his mouth and he could feel her smile. Encouraged, he kissed her more firmly. He brought his right hand up to cup the back of her head, his fingers working their way into her soft hair. She tightened her arms around him, pressing her body even closer against his. And then she bit softly at his lower lip, sending a warm shiver down his spine.

A sudden attack of nerves made him reel back abruptly. "I, uh, I should go," he said, embarrassed at himself. He was glad for the dim light in the room hiding his blush. "It's getting late…"

"Wait, hold on!" Zafirah said hurriedly. She grabbed his hand as he turned to leave. He glanced back at her, surprised. She chewed her lip as she gazed up at him. "Stay here tonight," she murmured.

He hesitated for a second, and then he smiled. "All right. I'll be back in a moment." He gave her hand a squeeze and slipped out of the room, quickly heading for the bathhouse. He splashed some water on his face, washing away the salt from the ocean. Once he was done, Kuei hurried back to Zafirah's room. He knocked on the door as lightly as he could, not wanting to wake anyone else.

"C'mon in," Zafirah's voice called from within. Her room was dark again, the lantern unlit on the dresser. Zafirah sat cross-legged on the futon at the opposite side of the room. The moonlight from the window pooled around her, illuminating her warm smile, making his breath catch again. He crossed the room, his pulse thumping in anticipation of holding her in his arms. Kuei seated himself next to her on the futon, his eyes still lingering on her moonlit face. She nudged his shoulder; he took the hint and laid back on the thin mattress. He took his glasses off and set them down beside the futon.

Zafirah grabbed the blanket from the foot of the futon and brought it with her as she lowered herself down next to him. She stretched out against his side, resting her head on his shoulder and draping her left arm across his torso. After a moment's awkwardness, he got the situation figured out and curled his left arm around her waist. She settled the blanket in place over both of them and then draped her arm over him again. Kuei sighed happily and wrapped his other arm around her as well, hugging her tightly. She pressed her face against his neck, her breath warm on his skin.

"Hey, Kuei?" Zafirah asked softly.

"Yes?" he replied, stifling a yawn.

"You never kissed anyone before me, did you?" Her tone was gentle as she said it, but the question still made his face go bright red.

"Ah, w-well, I…" he stammered.

Zafirah laughed quietly. "It's okay, you don't have to be shy about it. I just got that feeling. And you did say back in the desert that you didn't have a whole lot of time for the ladies in Ba Sing Se."

"You remembered that?" he asked, astounded. He felt her shrug. "It's true," he admitted. "You know by now how isolated my life was in the palace. And with Long Feng's constant interference, well…" he let his voice trail off, sighing. "I'd half-hoped you wouldn't notice," he added ruefully.

"Hey now, don't say that!" Zafirah protested. She propped herself up on her elbow, looking sternly down at him. "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll just have to make sure you get plenty of practice," she said, her wink barely visible in the darkness. He chuckled at that. She dipped her head to kiss him, and then settled down beside him once more.

As Kuei stared up at the shadowed ceiling, his arms snugly around Zafirah, he remembered something that he'd wondered earlier in the day.

"Zafirah?" he whispered.

"Hmm?" she mumbled.

"Are you… homesick?" he asked.

"Hmm." She tapped the fingertips of her right hand against his ribs. "A little bit, sometimes, yeah. Why d'you ask?"

"It just occurred to me this morning, while I was watching you and Basam do your Earthbending practice. I was remembering what you'd said about your bad dreams last night."

"Ah. Sure, I get homesick once in a while. It's not so much the desert itself that I miss, though. Mostly… I miss our tribe." Her voice dropped even lower, so he could barely even hear it. "I wonder if they're doing all right."

"I wish I could tell you," Kuei said somberly.

"Basam figures they're helping each other get through it, and he's probably right. I know my tribe's made of stern stuff. I just wish I could find out where they are," she went on. "Or maybe it's better that I don't know. Spirits and ancestors, when I think about what the Fire Nation might be doing to them…" Her voice faded. "We just gotta keep going though, I guess. A person could go crazy, thinking like that all the time. I just gotta believe that they'll be okay, somehow." She sniffled, then huffed out a breath. "I can see why you were feelin' so guilty before," she added after a brief silence. "Being free and happy while your people are in the Fire Nation's fist."

"You were right, though," Kuei said. "There's nothing we can do for them right now, except for keeping them in our thoughts. That, and doing whatever we can to… to piss off some Firebenders!"

She chuckled. "Yeah," she agreed. "Well, since we talked about it earlier, how about we make that our goal? After we leave this farm, we go and find some Firebenders to piss off? In the name of the Janan Tribe and Ba Sing Se!"

"I like the sound of that plan," Kuei said. "I'm sure Basam will agree. He was the one to bring it up earlier, after all."

"Definitely," Zafirah said. She yawned widely, making him yawn as well. Kuei's eyelids drooped as his tiredness suddenly caught up with him. Zafirah tightened her arm around Kuei's torso. "Good night, Kuei."

"Good night," he replied, letting his eyes fall shut. They fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

**So, uh, one important point to cover here: now that Zafi and Kuei are together, well… they're adults, they're in love… you do the math. I'll put warnings on any chapters with mild adult content, but I won't be posting any explicit content here on FFn. If there's any explicit content in upcoming chapters (I haven't decided yet), I'll be writing two versions of those chapters—a "clean" one and an explicit one. The clean chapters will go up on deviantART, , and , and the explicit ones will go on Livejournal and Journalfen. The clean chapters will have links to the explicit ones, and vice versa, so everyone can read the version that they are most comfortable with. I think this is the best way to handle it.**

**No playlist this time. I didn't feel like it. :P **


	22. Chapter 18

**I seem to say this every time, but sorry for not updating sooner! I had a lot of trouble coming up with ideas for this chapter. I ended up scrapping the Ch18 that I'd been working on and starting over. Then the new chapter took forever to write. In addition, I'm also now working on a fanfic for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! If you like that series, please go and give it a look. It's called "To Fight Without Fear" and I think it's gonna be pretty cool!**

**This is the non-explicit version of Chapter 18.**** This version of the chapter is rated PG-13/T for making out and for mentions of adult content, but there is no explicit content. If you want to read the version with explicit adult content, please go to either my Journalfen account or my Livejournal account. There are links to both in my profile. Read at your own discretion, don't blame me if you get in trouble for reading it, etc.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 18—REBELLING**

The next week passed by quickly. On the second day of the week, Kuei remembered something he'd promised to Zafirah. Luckily, that day happened to be Mrs. Liu's shopping day. After breakfast, he caught up to the elderly woman as she was setting up the cart to go into town.

"Mrs. Liu," he said, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Of course," she said, smiling kindly. "What is it?"

"There's something I'd like you to get for me," he said, pulling his coin pouch from his pocket. He described the item in question and Mrs. Liu nodded, accepting the money he gave her. Then, Kuei turned around at the sound of footsteps crunching on the path behind him. It was Zafirah; she gave him a sunny smile.

"Hey, Kuei," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "You goin' into town, too?"

"No, I just had a request to make," he replied. He tilted his head, puzzled. "You're going into town?"

"Yeah. There's something I need to get," she told him, waving her hand vaguely.

"I told her she could help me with my shopping in place of her usual chores this morning," Mrs. Liu explained. "It'll be just us ladies," she added in a conspiratorial tone, her pale green eyes twinkling.

"Well, have a good time," Kuei said, smiling. He waved goodbye to the two women, and then headed back to start on his morning tasks.

It was lunchtime when the two women returned from their shopping. They met Kuei and Basam on the way to the farmhouse for their meal. Mrs. Liu handed him a rectangular bundle wrapped in brown cloth, along with the leftover money.

"What'd you get?" Basam asked as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"It's a calligraphy set," Kuei announced gleefully. "It's very basic, nothing too elaborate, but it has everything we'd need." Zafirah stared blankly at him for a moment, and then her lips curved up in a huge smile.

"Hey, Basam," she said, turning to her brother, "Kuei said he'd teach us some writin' and readin', if we're up for it."

"What, really?" Basam asked. "When did that happen?"

"It was, uh… same night we kissed, actually," Zafirah muttered, nudging Kuei with her elbow.

"And you're just now getting around to mentionin' it," Basam commented.

"Yeah, heh… sorry. I kinda forgot," she said sheepishly. Basam rolled his eyes and heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Right, right, some guy's been keeping you distracted," he teased.

Kuei cleared his throat, his face reddening. "So, um, what do you say?" he prompted. "About the lessons…?"

"Sure, I'm up for it," Basam said with a grin.

After dinner that night, Mr. Liu let them stay in the dining room for their lesson. Kuei unwrapped the calligraphy set and quickly took stock of its contents. Zafirah and Basam both sat down next to the table, waiting as he arranged the set in front of them. Once it was ready, he seated himself beside them.

"Well, ah…" He felt a sudden flash of nervousness as he looked at the twins' eager faces. They both leaned forward, their smiles nearly identical. Kuei coughed. "Perhaps we should start with both of you telling me what you already know," he suggested.

Zafirah took the initiative, scooting closer to the writing tablet and picking up the brush. She painstakingly wrote out a couple of messy-looking characters on the paper. "That's my name," she said, waving the brush at the characters. Then she drew another. "That's 'sand'. This one's 'sky'… 'desert'… 'Sandbender'… 'sun'… 'water'… This one's 'sand', too." She glanced up at Kuei. "I'm sure you're noticing a pattern by now," she joked. Then she sat back on her heels and sighed. "That's pretty much it," she muttered. "I mean, I know a few others, but it's more of the same."

"All right," Kuei said. Zafirah slid backwards and handed the brush to Basam, who took her place at the writing tablet. Basam held the brush over the paper for a moment and then frowned.

"Most of the ones I know're the same as Zafi's," he said.

"Just do it anyway," Zafirah said, nudging his back with her knuckles.

Basam shrugged and leaned over the page. "Let's see, here. Okay, we got my name, we got 'sand'… I know 'bird', too, and 'home'… Ooh, and I know 'Si Wong', that one too…" Kuei noticed that Basam's characters were more neatly written than his sister's. Basam set the brush down and scooted back next to Zafirah. Kuei sat down at the tablet and picked up the brush, replacing the paper with a fresh sheet.

"Hmm, all right." He quickly jotted down a few characters and held up the page. "Do you know what these mean?"

"Nope," said Basam.

"No," Zafirah said.

"Well, um, these characters mean 'Earth Kingdom'," Kuei explained. He wrote down a few more and held up the page again. "How about these?" he asked.

"Not even close," Zafirah said irritably.

"No need to get snappy, Zafi," Basam chided her.

"Well, how in the world am I supposed to know what those scribbles mean?" Zafirah demanded.

"She's right, Basam," Kuei said. "I'm sorry, I'm going about this all wrong." He considered for a moment. "Let's start with the basic types of characters instead."

An hour later, Kuei sat and watched while the twins took turns practicing the characters he'd shown them. The lesson seemed to be going well, and he couldn't help but feel rather pleased with his first teaching attempt. He nodded approvingly as Basam finished a set and handed the brush over to Zafirah. Once she'd completed her own set, she handed the paper to Kuei, who studied it.

"Hmm… you both seem to be having trouble with this pair of characters here," he observed. After a moment's thought, an idea occurred to him. "Can I demonstrate them for you?"

"Yeah, sure," Basam said. Kuei moved over to sit by Basam's right shoulder.

"May I borrow your hand for a moment?"

"Go for it."

"All right. Hold the brush, please," Kuei said. Basam picked up the brush again and Kuei reached over to lightly grasp Basam's right hand with his own.

"I'm not sure how my sister'll feel about us holding hands," Basam joked. Kuei laughed at the remark.

"Oh, I'm not too worried," Zafirah replied lightly.

Kuei slowly guided Basam's hand through the brushstrokes of the character set. Then he let go and shifted backwards. "There we are. Did you notice any difference?"

"Yeah, I think so," Basam said. He gave it another try on his own with much better results. "Yeah, yeah, I definitely see the difference there."

"Good!" Kuei said. Then he turned to Zafirah, who grinned and wiggled the fingers of her right hand at him.

"My turn?" she asked, arching her eyebrows.

"That's right," he agreed, returning her smile. He scooted up next to her—much closer than he'd been to Basam, naturally—and grasped her right hand with his own. He gently moved her hand over the paper, doing his best to focus on the lesson and not on the warmth radiating from her body.

"Huh! Whaddya know, that actually did help," Zafirah commented as she looked down at the completed characters.

The lesson went on for a while longer. Eventually they decided to stop for the night; Kuei packed away the calligraphy set and the three of them headed off to their beds.

* * *

Two more days passed by. Each night, Kuei and the twins would return to the dining room in the farmhouse for more lessons. Their skills were improving quickly, much to their delight; and Kuei quickly found that, once he got used to it, he enjoyed teaching almost as much as he enjoyed learning.

As they finished up their lesson for that night, Basam yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

"So how'd we do tonight, huh, Sifu Kuei?" he asked with his usual grin.

"You did very well!" Kuei replied, beaming with pride at the title. "Both of you did quite well."

"Good, good, glad to hear it. I'm off to take a bath and get some sleep. Good night, you two!" He waved at them and left the dining room.

"A bath does sound good," Kuei murmured as he lifted the bundled-up calligraphy set from the table. "I think I'll have one as well." How about you?" He glanced over at Zafirah.

"I took one before the lesson, remember?"

"Ah, right, of course."

Zafirah smirked and linked her arm through his. "I'll see you at my room when you're done, yeah?"

Kuei smiled and nodded. "Of course." He'd taken to sleeping in her room ever since that first night. They left the farmhouse arm-in-arm, and then Kuei went off to take his bath. The hot water felt wonderful after another day's farm labor, and he started planning their lesson for the next night as he soaked. He only stayed in the bath for about ten minutes; he didn't want to keep Zafirah waiting too long. He hurried back to the farmhand house and knocked on her door.

She slid the door open and beamed at him. "Hi. Enjoy your bath?" she asked. Her hair was out of its braid, he noticed. It hung loosely around her face in shorter locks and fell down her back in a straight, flowing curtain.

"Yes, indeed," he said, smiling back at her. He stepped into her room and she closed the door behind him. He noticed that she'd already extinguished one of the two lanterns in her room; the one on the dresser was unlit, while the one mounted on the wall next to the door flickered cheerily. "It's a bit dark in here, don't you think?" he asked, crossing the room to reach the dresser. She followed after him. He picked up the spark rocks to light the lantern, but Zafirah's hand landed atop his forearm and stopped him. She stood close behind him, sliding her hand down to his own, pulling the rocks out of his grasp and putting them back on the dresser. He could feel the heat of her body against his back. "O-or we could leave it like this. Nice and… and dimly lit," he croaked.

"Now you're gettin' it," Zafirah said. She slid her arms around his waist, burying her face in between his shoulder blades. He sighed happily, enjoying the feel of her arms for a minute. Then he twisted around to bring them face to face, eager to kiss her again. Kuei's throat went dry at the smile that graced her lips. There was a gleam in her eye, a certain intensity that he hadn't seen before. She raised herself up on her toes to press her lips against his and he responded with enthusiasm. He let his hands roam over her back, over the curves of her hips, through her hair. Zafirah did the same, sliding her hands down. He couldn't help but jump slightly when she grabbed his backside.

"You got a nice butt," she murmured against his mouth.

"Er… thanks?" Then, before he could lose his nerve, he boldly brought his own hands down and did the same. "Y-you do too," he said, chuckling. And she did, too—it was round and firm. She giggled slightly and went right back to kissing. When they broke apart for air, Zafirah smirked at him.

"See? It's like I said before: all you needed was some practice," she teased. Then she took his hand and led him over towards the futon. He gladly followed her. He sat down cross-legged on the futon, expecting Zafirah to seat herself beside him as she had on previous nights. Instead, she straddled his legs and perched on his lap, her legs on either side of him.

"A-ah," he stammered, his already flushed face going even redder.

"You look kinda nervous," Zafirah murmured. She rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Ye-yes. Um. I th-think I understand where you're going with this, now," he said, pulse racing.

She smiled much more softly than usual. "Is that okay?" she asked.

"Yes! Yes, definitely," he said, nodding vigorously. Then he frowned slightly as something occurred to him. "But, wait, what if you get—you know…" He gave up on fumbling for the right words and just gestured to his abdomen. Luckily, she caught his meaning.

"Remember when I went into town with Mrs. Liu the other day?" she asked. He nodded. "There was a particular type of herb I wanted to get. I had a feelin' I might be needing it soon," she explained.

"Ah." His face reddened even more, if possible. "Well then." He knew which one she meant; he'd read about it in a medical text once. It was supposed to be nearly foolproof in preventing conception.

"That's not all you're worried over, is it?" she asked, a knowing look on her face.

"No," he admitted. "Ah, I've never… not for lack of wanting to, though!" he assured her hurriedly. He could feel all the confidence he'd gained over the last few nights slipping away. "And the thing is, I—I don't want to disappoint you."

She slid her arms around his neck and gazed at him with dark, heavy-lidded eyes. "You won't," she said softly. Then she winked, her smile taking on more of its usual edge. "Don't you worry, honey. How 'bout this: we'll save _that_ for another night. And for tonight… well, there's plenty of other ways to have fun." She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned slyly.

"And I suppose you'll be showing me a few of those ways?" he asked, anticipation breaking through some of his nervousness. She plucked his glasses off of his nose, set them aside, and brushed her fingertips over his lips.

"You're damn right I will."

* * *

The next morning, Zafirah woke up well before the usual wake-up call. Her head was resting on Kuei's chest, and her right leg was draped over both of his. A huge smile split her face as memories of the night before came back to her: his hands roaming her body, his bright green eyes dark and hazy with desire… She bit her lip and pressed her cheek against him. She could smell sex and sweat on his skin. It was a good smell, she thought, and she decided to make sure it happened more often. But for now, they should probably do something about it, because she probably smelled the same way.

"Hey, wake up," she whispered, bracing herself on her elbow and shaking his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Kuei opened one eye and blearily looked up at her. Then the memories must have caught up with him, too, because he sat up and blushed, smiling bashfully at her. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips.

"We should go wash up before breakfast," she said.

"All right," he mumbled, yawning. They quickly got dressed and hurried to the bathhouse, where they agreed to bathe in different stalls. Zafirah had a feeling that if they'd shared a stall, they'd have ended up missing breakfast entirely. After they'd finished bathing, they walked to the farmhouse hand-in-hand.

Their last few days at the farm passed by quickly. By the end of that second week—the end of the working time they'd originally agreed on with Mr. Liu—they were ready to go. It had been a nice couple of weeks, but Zafirah and her companions were all looking forward to getting on the move again; even Bosco was getting restless. So Mr. Liu paid them their last salary, they said their goodbyes to the old couple and the farmhands, and they put the farm to their backs.

Just like before, they made their way along the coastal road. A couple months ago, the peacefulness of their journey might have made Zafirah suspicious—in the desert, there was always some danger to keep her on her toes. For the moment, though, she was happy to just savor the good times the three of them were having. They kept up their writing lessons every day, and she and Basam were learning quickly. And every night, she and Kuei fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms. The cloth walls of their tent didn't allow much privacy, though, so they'd kept their "explorations" to a minimum, not wanting to scar her poor brother's brain. "There's some things Basam just doesn't need to know about my life," she'd told Kuei wryly. Of course, saying something and doing it were two different things, and lying there alone in that tent, pressed up against each other… needless to say, keeping their hands to themselves was tough. Still, they were managing it somehow.

Looking back on it, with how quiet their lives were, she probably should've guessed that they were due for a little excitement. And it found them in the forest ten miles away from a little village called Senlin. The road had curved inland past the village, following a river upstream. The first thing they saw was a column of smoke rising up above the treetops further along the road. And then, from behind them, they heard sounds coming their way—the scuff of boots on the dirt road, the creaking of cartwheels, and the heavy stomp of big animals.

Basam looked back over his shoulder and swore loudly. "Time to get off the road," he announced, grabbing Zafirah and Kuei each by an arm. "C'mon, Bosco!" he called over his shoulder.

"What the—" Zafirah protested, but Basam shushed her and yanked on their arms. The four of them retreated to the trees by the side of the road, crouching down at Basam's frantic gesturing. They peeked over the bushes that were hiding them, and after a few minutes Zafirah saw what it was that had her twin so spooked: a group of Fire Nation soldiers headed right for them. Basam must have seen the tall banners that the ones in front were carrying. The stomping noise came from the four komodo rhinos in the group, and the carts in question were loaded with supplies.

As the soldiers passed by, Zafirah could hear two of them talking. "Ugh, more Earth Kingdom garbage," the nearest one complained. "It all tastes like dirt to me."

"Hah, not surprising, given the way these people live in the mud!" laughed the one next to him.

"Yeah, no kidding. But still, with how bad it all is, you'd think they'd have handed it over to us a lot more easily!"

"Heh. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to live with it till we rendezvous with the other garrison. Then we'll have supplies from the homeland again!"

"Ahh, komodo chicken curry!" sighed the first one. Zafirah glared at the two as they passed their hiding place. She shot a glance at her two companions and saw anger on their faces, too. So they'd realized the same thing she had: those supplies had probably been taken by force from Senlin Village.

They waited for the Fire Nation group to pass by, and then Basam pointed after them and mouthed, 'Follow'. Zafirah nodded and so did Kuei. Once the group had gotten well ahead of them, they got back on the road and followed the fresh tracks. After another half a mile, the tracks swerved off onto a narrower trail that wound off into the trees. From the broken branches and trodden underbrush, the trail looked pretty new. Even Zafirah, a desert girl form birth, could see that.

"Let's go and see what these fellows are up to, shall we?" Kuei asked, frowning at the trail.

"Yep," Zafirah and Basam both agreed. Kuei told Bosco to stay put, and the three of them crept off down the trail. It took them to a sprawling Fire Nation encampment in a big clearing. They could see the soldiers from the group on the road unloading their ill-gotten goods, stashing them away. They watched the camp for a few minutes and then, on a shared glance, they slunk away and went back to the main road.

"Urgh, they're just so horrible," Zafirah muttered, tightly crossing her arms. "They can't even get food like normal people! They have to go and steal everything!"

"Yeah. It pisses me off, them thinking they can get away with anything!" Basam agreed.

"But the sad thing is, they _can_ get away with anything," Kuei pointed out grimly. "As long as they're winning the war…" And then Basam suddenly lifted his head and grinned.

Zafirah arched an eyebrow at him. She knew that particular grin. It always came before some sort of mischief. "What'cha thinkin', brother?" she asked.

"Well, d'you remember the day we went into Meihui and asked around for information about the eclipse?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," she said. That had been a pretty grim evening, with the lack of any good news about the Avatar. _But that night was pretty good,_ she thought, smiling at the memory of her and Kuei sharing a futon for the first time. And that memory brought back another, of the conversation they'd had in Meihui that night. Her smile turned into a grin that matched her twin's. Kuei must have remembered, too, because he joined in on the grinning.

"I suppose it's time to piss off some Firebenders, then?" he asked.

"Y'know, I think it is," Basam said.

* * *

"Okay, I've got it all figured out," Zafirah said, causing Kuei to glance up at her from where he sat chopping vegetables for dinner. Basam, who was chopping next to him, looked up as well. Bosco looked up at her, growling curiously. She plopped down between them, a pleased look on her face. "You both heard that one soldier mention a rendezvous with another garrison, right?"

"Right," Basam agreed. Kuei nodded.

"Right! So, here's the plan: we're gonna sneak into their camp in the middle of the night, wreck all their stuff, and make damn well sure they miss that rendezvous! We'll go back tonight and get an idea of the camp's layout, what their watch shifts are like, that kind of thing- and then tomorrow we hit 'em!"

"I like it," said Basam. "Simple and efficient."

"Yes, definitely," Kuei agreed. There was a vague worry nagging at the back, and he realized what it was after a brief contemplation. "I do have one concern, though: what if the soldiers blame the people of Senlin? They might assume that the villagers want retribution for the theft of their supplies."

"Got a good point, there," Basam said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Zafirah sighed. "Damn, I didn't even think of that!"

"So, let's given 'em something else to blame," Basam suggested.

"Like what?"

"Gimme a minute." He chopped a few more vegetable slices while he considered this. Kuei went back to chopping as well, searching for a solution. Then Basam piped up again. "What if we just tell 'em that it wasn't the villagers?" he suggested.

"What, tell 'em who we are?" asked Zafirah, frowning.

"No, no—we could leave a message or something," he said.

Zafirah nodded slowly, chewing her bottom lip. "Mmm, yeah. Maybe something that'll put a little fear in their hearts, huh?" She grinned wickedly.

"That seems like a good tactic!" Kuei said. He set down his knife and leaned forward as the excitement of their plan took hold of him. "We want to declare our intentions, while still deflecting blame away from Senlin Village. If we could find a message to accomplish that…"

"What'll it be, though?" Basam wondered.

"Hmmm. Perhaps we could invent a sort of vigilante group. Something that'll suggest a much larger enemy—one that could strike with much more force at any time!" He set down his knife and punched his right fist into his left palm.

"Such as?" Basam asked.

"How about… the Freedom Fighters!" Kuei suggested.

"Mm, I dunno, it's probably been done before," Zafirah said.

"Oh." Kuei gave it more thought. "What do you think of the Earth Kingdom Liberation Army for a name?" he asked. "The message itself could be, I don't know… something like, "The Earth Kingdom Liberation Army was here'?"

"Not bad, not bad," Basam said musingly.

"I got a few ideas, myself," Zafirah said. The three of them gathered closer around their campfire, planning their mischief.

* * *

The next night, they put their plan into motion. They started getting ready at sunset. Luckily, Zafirah and Kuei had kept the dark clothes they'd worn on the Day of Black Sun. Basam hadn't been there, of course, so he didn't have any dark clothes. He did still have his stolen Fire Nation uniform, which he rubbed in the dirt to hide its already dark shade of red. They smeared ash from the campfire on their faces, and then settled down to wait.

"I think it's been long enough," Kuei said a few hours after sunset.

"Yeah, they should be asleep by now," Zafirah agreed. She was starting to get antsy.

"Okay, then, let's go make their lives a little less comfortable," Basam said with a roguish grin.

"You stay here, Bosco," Kuei said to the bear as they doused the campfire and stood up. "I'm afraid you'd make too much noise." The bear gurgled sadly and plopped down next to the firepit. The three of them left their camp and made their way back to the narrow trail through the trees.

Their sneaking the night before—"reconnaissance", Kuei had called it—had been plenty of help. They knew exactly where the night patrol's path was, and so they easily avoided the guards walking around the camp's edge. Once the closest guard had passed them by, they slipped unseen into the camp.

* * *

Basam's skin tingled, his hair standing on end. Sure, he was nervous about maybe getting caught, but there was also the thrill of finally getting to mess around with these fire-throwing bastards. After all they'd done, he was definitely going to enjoy this.

His first stop was the little laundry area, where the soldiers' uniforms were hanging up to dry. It was secluded between two big tents, so as long as he was quiet, no one would spot him. _Your clothes are done for,_ he decided, pulling a knife from his belt. For starters, he slashed an X-shape into each tunic hanging from the clothesline on his left. Then, in a fit of glee that even he had to admit was childish, he cut open the crotch of every pair of pants hanging to his right. And lastly, for good measure, he cut both lines and lowered them to the ground, careful not to let the cloth rustle too much. He stamped on the clothes a few times, grinding them into the dirt, and then tiptoed away to his next target—the cook's tent.

He stuffed handfuls of dirt into all the pots and pans he could reach, upended a jar of cooking oil, and jabbed fistfuls of chopsticks points-first into the ground. Then he spotted a flask hidden away on a shelf. _Hmm, theft in the ranks, huh?_ He smirked at the thought. He grabbed it, opened it up and gave the mouth of the flask a sniff. _It's sake,_ he realized. He took a tiny sip and nodded appreciatively. _Good stuff! Glad I brought this with me,_ he thought as he untied a cloth bag from his belt. The flask went into the bag, along with a box of jelly candies and a few other choice tidbits the cook had hidden away. His work done there, he moved on again—this time to the supply stock.

They'd agreed not to wreck any of the food supplies, since that'd just be wasteful—and he and Zafirah hated wasting food—but they could definitely "liberate" some of it. They'd leave the stolen goods from Senlin alone; they wouldn't be able to bring the supplies back, and it just didn't seem right to take any of it for themselves. But the stuff marked with the Fire Nation emblem was fair game. He loaded up the cloth sack with dried meat, jars of spices, some more small boxes of jelly candy, and anything else he could fit in. Once the bag was full, he made his way to the flap of the supply tent.

As he reached out to push back the cloth, though, he heard boot-clad footsteps crunching on the dirt outside. He swore silently and slipped back into the corner of the tent. He'd just crouched down behind a stack of crates when the tent flap swung inward and one of the night sentries poked his head through. The soldier stuck a torch into the tent, peering around.

"I could've sworn I heard something," the man whispered, stepping inside.

_Oh no, no no no, don't you come in here!_ Basam thought, dread rising up within him. The guard moved slowly towards Basam's hiding place, turning the torch this way and that as he looked around.

"Maybe it was a raccoon-cat," he muttered. Basam held his breath, praying to the Spirits for a lucky break. He got one: as the soldier reached the back of the tent, he turned to the opposite side of it first and left his back wide open. Basam sprang to his feet and flung both arms around the soldier, clapping one hand tight over his nose and mouth and the other around his neck. Taken off guard, the soldier flailed around—but Basam held on tight. Soon, the sentry's body went slack. Basam lowered him to the ground and checked his pulse, which was still steady.

_I wonder if you'd have shown me the same mercy,_ Basam thought. He quickly untied the sentry's belt and used it to bind his wrists, then took his own belt to tie his feet. He cut off part of his pants-leg and used it to gag the soldier, then rubbed a handful of dirt on his leg to hide his skin as much as he could. And then he hurried out of the tent as quickly as he could; his accomplices needed to know that there was a soldier down.

He found Zafirah next to the komodo-rhino hitching post, cutting through the thick leather straps of their saddles.

"Hey, Zafi," he whispered urgently.

"Hold on… nearly done… there we go." She sat back from the last saddle, nodding in satisfaction at her work. "What's up?

"I had to knock out one of the sentries," Basam told her. "He's down and tied up, but who knows when he'll come to."

"Damn!" she whispered. She pressed her knuckles to her mouth, then shook her head. "Okay, okay. Let's find Kuei and get out, then. I think we've done plenty of damage here."

Kuei met them in the shadows next to the communications tent; he was looking mighty pleased with himself and clutching a cloth bag stuffed with something. Zafirah pointed to it and arched her eyebrows. He opened it up, showing it to be full of parchment scrolls.

"Orders," he mouthed and gave them a thumbs-up.

"Did you plant the message?" Zafirah whispered. Kuei nodded.

"Hey! What're you three doing over there?" The voice came from the camp perimeter, just behind them. For a second, the three of them froze in panic.

"Go!" Basam and his sister hissed at the same time. They turned and bolted for the front of the camp, stealth forgotten. On their way out, though, they made one last stop back at the rhino hitching post. They quickly cut the ropes tying up the five beasts, and Basam gave the nearest one a hearty slap on the rump. It roared and lunged sideways, knocking into the one next to it. That one took a sideways jump into its neighbor as well. Soon all five were on the run and doing way more damage than the three of them had ever hoped for. They slipped out of the Fire Nation camp under the cover of komodo rhino stampede.

Some of the soldiers tried to follow them, of course, but Basam and his companions managed to lose them in the shadowy forest. They made it back to their camp, breathless and giddy with success.

"We did it!" Zafirah crowed.

"Haha, yeah! That oughta slow 'em down for a while," Basam snickered.

"I have to admit, I never thought I'd be this proud of intentional property damage," Kuei said.

"Property damage for _justice!_" Zafirah added smugly. She and Kuei embraced, and Basam decided it was time for a group hug. He grabbed them both and hugged them tightly. And then Bosco joined in, too, rearing up on his back legs and wrapping his huge arms around them. Zafirah squawked indignantly and Basam just laughed.

They were all too wound up to sleep, so Basam brought out the sake flask he'd found and they each poured a cup. They rekindled the campfire and relaxed.

Zafirah took a sip and whistled. "Wow, they got some nice stuff in the Fire Nation army," she commented. "They may be power-grabbing vultures, but I guess some of 'em have good taste."

"True, that," Basam agreed. "And you think that's good? Check this out." He gleefully pulled out a box of jelly candies and handed it to her.

"Is this what I think it is?" Zafirah asked eagerly, peering into it.

"Yep!" He knew perfectly well why his sister was so excited—back home, jelly candy had been an even scarcer luxury than fresh fruit. They passed the box and flask around, eating and drinking their fill. As they did, Kuei showed them the scrolls he'd found.

"They're orders of various types—directives, deployment orders, that sort of thing. There's even a map of Fire Nation prisons and slave labor operations! And," he went on, holding up one particular document with a flourish, "I have the location of that rendezvous point!"

"We could beat 'em there," mused Zafirah. "With all that damage, I doubt they'd be able to keep up with us."

"I like that idea," Basam said. Then something else occurred to him and he sat forward. "Slave operations and prisons, you said? Zafi, our tribe might be in one of those!"

"Sweet Spirits, you're right!" Zafirah gasped.

"There's one a little further up the coast," Kuei said as he perused the map in the firelight. "It's just beyond a place called the Wulong Forest. Why don't we make that our next stop after this rendezvous point? Even if your tribe isn't there, we may find information that could lead us to them."

Basam beamed from ear to ear, and so did Zafirah. "Yes," she said fervently. Basam nodded in agreement, thrilled at the thought of a possible reunion.

"To Ba Sing Se and the Janan Tribe," Kuei said, raising his cup.

"To our people!" Zafirah said, lifting hers as well.

"To our people," Basam agreed.

* * *

"What in the Spirit World is going on here, and how did we damn well sleep through it?" demanded Lieutenant Etsuko as she stormed from her tent.

"R-raiders, Lieutenant," said a quivering sentry. He knew perfectly well what kind of trouble he was in, as one of the guards who'd failed to stop the intruders. Etsuko glared around her ruined camp, practically tearing their hair out. Another soldier came up to her then, carrying a piece of parchment.

"The rebels left this in the communications tent, Lieutenant," he said, presenting it to her. She read it quickly:

_We know of your crimes, and you will face the consequences for them. There will be no forgiveness for you. Don't bother looking for us in Senlin Village, we'll be long gone by the time you read this._

_-The Earth Kingdom Liberation Force_

_PS: Meet you at the rendezvous point._

Etsuko crumpled the parchment with an almost feral snarl.

It took them an embarrassingly long time to get on the move again, and when they got to the rendezvous point, it too had been trashed. The commanding officer there, fuming with rage, had two parchment notes. One was addressed to Etsuko, and it said just two words: _Too slow._

* * *

**So yep, that's that chapter done. Did you notice that name I dropped near the end? The name of a certain forest? Yeah, that name. Do you remember what happened there in the series? If not, go to the Avatar Wiki and look it up. Go on. I'll wait.**

**Yep, it's **_**that**_** forest. The comet is coming, dear readers, and the final story arc of CST is about to begin. **


	23. Chapter 19

**Here we go, readers! This is one of the big ones: the day of Sozin's Comet. Now, Ch19 ended up being very, very long—22 pages in Word—so I've split it into two chapters for easier reading. This means that Chapter 20 is already done, since it was written at the same time as Ch19. So expect another update very, very soon. Like… tomorrow? :D Read on and let's see how our heroes fare on this fateful day.**

**By the way, there's an anime reference in this chapter. I won't say which one, but it'll be obvious if you recognize it. Let's see who can spot it!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 19— SOZIN'S COMET**

"Great Spirits and ancestors, this place is amazing!" Kuei exclaimed. Wulong Forest lay ahead, and they had an excellent view from the hill they stood on. The forest itself stretched out before them; it went all the way down to the nearby shoreline and off towards the horizon. To their right was a vast field of towering lava columns, extending into the distance. The soaring structures stood in jagged rows with no end in sight—like giant soldiers, Kuei thought.

"It's incredible," Zafirah said. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"I wonder how all those formed," Basam mused as they started walking along the road again. "It's like a bunch of huge spears."

"Most scholars believe that these columns were formed by water," Kuei piped up, remembering what his tutors had taught him.

"No kiddin'! How'd that work?" Zafirah asked.

"Well, it's said that a large volume of water might have flowed through here at one time, eroding away all of the weaker rock until only these pillars of lava remained. I'm sure the wind carried some of it away as well."

"You got yourself a walkin' library, here, Zafi," Basam remarked, nudging his sister.

"Yep, I'll know everything I could ever want to about rock formations," Zafirah agreed teasingly.

"Well, I'm glad I could be of use," Kuei replied in a dry tone.

Zafirah chortled and clapped her hands. "You're getting better at sarcasm, honey," she said approvingly.

"Yeah, I think we've been a bad influence on him," Basam joked. Kuei had to chuckle at that. Quite frankly, this was one bad influence that he was grateful for. Zafirah ducked behind Kuei to move between the two men, putting her arms around both of their shoulders, whistling happily as they walked along.

The road narrowed down as it entered the forest and wound through the trees. Kuei looked over towards the rock columns again, catching glimpses of them through the woods. They walked in comfortable silence for a while, with Bosco whistling the occasional tune.

"Hey, Kuei, let me see that map again," Zafirah said after a while. He knew which one she meant—the one marking out all of the Fire Nation's slave labor operations in this region of the Earth Kingdom. This was the map that could lead her and her brother to their tribe's whereabouts. He dug it out of his pack and handed it to her.

Examining it critically, she made a low _hmm_ sound under her breath. "Looks like it's still a day's journey north of here," she muttered. Basam peered over her shoulder at it and nodded.

"Yeah, I'd say so," he agreed. Kuei could see the anticipation in his eyes and he hoped desperately, for their sakes, that this map would lead to a happy reunion. The twins grinned excitedly at each other and Basam gave his sister's shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

It was late in the day when they first noticed that something was unusual. Basam glanced up and frowned at the sky while Bosco nudged his hand and growled in confusion.

"Sun's setting awfully early, isn't it?" Basam commented, sounding somewhat uneasy. He tapped his knuckles against his sister's upper arm and gestured for her to look up, which she did. Kuei looked up as well, and then he too was frowning.

"Somethin's not right here. Sun's still where it should be, this time of day," she observed. And yet, the sky was turning a deep shade of red and a second glow, one that had nothing to do with the sun, was visible in the distance over the mountains. Something stirred in the back of Kuei's memory; something that the Avatar had told him… His eyes went wide and he did a quick mental count of the weeks that had passed.

"Oh, Spirits," he whispered, his heart sinking. "This is the day. Today is when Sozin's Comet returns."

"Whose comet?" Basam asked, puzzled.

"This is the day that the Avatar was preparing for!" Kuei said urgently. "Remember what I told you—that is, what the Avatar had told me in Ba Sing Se? On this day, one hundred years ago, Firelord Sozin used the comet's power to wipe out the Air Nomads. Avatar Aang told me that if he couldn't defeat Firelord Ozai by today, the comet's return…" Kuei trailed off, his throat going dry.

"Right, I remember now," Zafirah said grimly. "You said that this comet thing would make Firebenders more powerful—"

"A hundred times more powerful, yeah?" Basam interjected. "I remember it too, now. We'd better lie low for the rest of the day, I guess. If that's really true, and some Firebenders came through here, we wouldn't last a minute."

"Indeed," Kuei agreed. "Let's hurry up and find some shelter." They sped up to a considerably faster pace.

It was Zafirah who noticed the next problem headed their way. "Uh, fellas? Y-you might wanna look over that way," she said anxiously, pointing out towards the ocean. Kuei followed her finger, as did her brother. He saw a line of huge dark shapes in the sky, flying in formation. They were out over the water and slightly ahead of where he and his companions were. They were also worryingly close, and getting even closer very quickly.

"Those look like the flying machines, from back in the desert," Basam said, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

"And there's much more of them," Kuei muttered. "This doesn't look good, my friends. Let's keep moving and try to get ahead of their flight path." They kept going as the airships drew ever closer. He watched them through breaks in the treetops, keeping them in the corner of his eye. They reached the shore as Kuei and his companions crossed their flight path. _Just keep going,_ he told himself.

Then there was a roar like an explosion, a bright blaze of light, and a searing wave of heat. The sight that met Kuei's eyes as he and his friends turned to look froze his blood in horror: fire streaming down from the lead airship like the wrath of the Spirits themselves, incinerating the trees in its path. He could already smell the smoke carried towards them on the wind.

"_Run!_" he screamed. He grabbed Zafirah's hand and Basam's sleeve and sprinted ahead. "Run, hurry! C'mon, Bosco!"

"Head inland," Basam gasped as they ran. "Towards the rock pillars—we gotta get out of this forest!" Kuei knew he was right—that much fire would spread through these trees in a heartbeat, and if they were caught in there… They veered deeper into the woods, racing towards the rock columns while still trying to get beyond the airships' path. Branches whipped at Kuei's face and ripped at his clothes, fallen branches and twisting roots snatching at his feet. Bosco roared in terror beside him and Zafirah kept a deathly tight grip on his fingers.

The relentless heat at their backs drove them in their desperate flight, even as the billowing smoke thickened the air and tried to choke them. Then, after what felt like an eternity of running, there came the sound of several crashes and bursts from high above, and the flaming pillar's roar stopped. Kuei dared to pause for just a moment, glancing up. The lead airship was veering away! He could see smoke billowing from it even from where he stood. But the damage was already done, the smoke from the burning forest stinging his eyes and his lungs as flames crackled around him and his friends.

"Go, go!" Zafirah urged them, her voice hoarse with smoke. And they did, plunging through the trees once again. The fire was gaining on them, blown by the wind coming from the sea.

"Keep… moving," Basam croaked, forcing the words out in between coughs. Kuei and his friends pushed themselves onward. Sheer, blind terror kept Kuei's feet in motion despite the scorching, smoky air rasping in his lungs.

At last they reached the edges of the lava column field. The trees dwindled around them as the first lines of rock pillars rose up around them.

"There!" Zafirah shouted suddenly. She pointed at a column close by, one that was fairly short compared to the rest. "That ledge halfway up!" Kuei looked up and saw it, a wide rock shelf set into the colossal pillar.

"We can climb up, get away from the flames," Basam said hoarsely. They were right, Kuei realized. The lower half of the pillar was sloped, with a bunch of narrow, uneven "steps" rising up. It was still very steep, but it might be possible. He glanced down at Bosco in panic, not sure if his companion could make that climb, but there was no time to waste on wondering; they heard another roar from above, one that was much, much louder. Before he'd even turned to look, Kuei knew what he'd see. Massive pillars of fire streamed from the other airships, ripping through the forest like a burning plow.

"Go, go, go!" Zafirah shrieked. She pushed Kuei and her brother forward and dashed towards the column. Basam was the first to reach it, with Zafirah close behind him. Kuei hung back behind them, not wanting to get in their way, waiting and waiting in barely-restrained terror. Bosco sat up on his haunches next to Kuei, nuzzling his cheek. He anxiously stroked the bear's fur, taking some tiny comfort from his pet's familiar musky smell and furry warmth. Behind them, the flames grew ever closer, the snapping and crackling of flames filling Kuei's ears. His vision swam from the smoke in his eyes and his lungs burned.

Finally, to Kuei's relief, the twins safely reached the ledge. "Come on, Bosco," he muttered. Kuei hurried over to the column and started climbing. The stone scraped the tips of his fingers and dug into his knees through his pants. His breath came in choked, rasping gasps as he made his way up the pillar with what felt like agonizing slowness. With the smoke-filled air flooding his lungs, his arms and legs felt like iron weights.

_Just a little further,_ he told himself wearily. When he was halfway there, his foot slipped.

"Kuei!" the twins shouted together, lunging forward and stretching their hands down towards him. He regained his footing and kept going, his teeth clenched too tightly in fear and concentration to reassure them. At long last he was in reach of their hands, and they hauled him up. Once he was on the ledge, he turned back down to Bosco.

"You can do it, Bosco!" he urged. The bear had stopped a few feet below the ledge, where the "steps" reached their steepest point. Bosco looked up at him and let out a low, frightened growl. "It's all right, you're almost there! Just a bit further, my friend! Use your claws!" The bear started moving again, bit by bit, as the flames leaped higher and higher in the trees.

He was up! The four of them safely together on the ledge, they retreated until they were all huddled against the side of the pillar. Bosco curled up in front of his human companions, his back to the burning forest. Kuei sat down on Zafirah's right, and her brother sat on her left. They drew close together, clasping hands and waiting in agonized silence.

And then, suddenly, a series of echoing crashes rose over the roaring flames. They looked towards the airships, through the smoke, and Kuei couldn't help but gape at what he saw: one of the ships was smashing into the others! The fire streaming from the ships ceased as the rogue one hit each vessel in succession.

"What in the world…?" Kuei whispered. With the threat of the airships gone, though, a new set of sounds reached their ears—explosive cracks and bangs, the roar of fire, the thunderous crash of falling rocks.

"Look, there!" Basam yelled. He thrust a finger out towards the lava columns and Kuei and Zafirah both lifted their heads to see. Kuei could just make out two shapes flying about—though they were tiny at this distance, much too small to make out any details. But he could certainly make out the streams of fire that burst from them. It was like watching a Firebending battle, but in midair! And then he saw boulders flying through the air as well, crashing against lava pillars as one of the tiny figures dodged them.

"'S just keeps on gettin' better and better!" Zafirah yelled incredulously, her voice rasping.

"What is going on here?" Basam exclaimed, his own voice rising in panic. "Are they dragons? Spirits?"

"One of them seems to be Earthbending as well as Firebending," Kuei said, bewilderment edging through some of the terror. "Wait…" His heartbeat leaped. "It can't be…What if it's Avatar Aang?"

The three of them drew even closer together as an enormous burst of vivid blue lightning split the sky with an earsplitting crack.

"The Avatar?" Basam echoed, gaping at Kuei.

"I thought you said Aang might be dead!" Zafirah shouted over the chaos, her eyes wide.

"He- he was in an unconscious state of some sort, but—but that has to be him!" Kuei insisted, pulse soaring with a wild, desperate hopefulness. Zafirah opened her mouth to reply, but her words were swallowed up by the crack of another lightning burst.

"Then who's the other guy?" Basam yelled over the noise. Kuei had no answer for that, and the three of them exchanged frightened glances.

The battle raged on, sometimes in the air and sometimes veering out of sight amid the stone pillars. All the while, the comet lit up the sky overhead with its brilliant red blaze. And then the fighters disappeared altogether.

"Where'd they go?" Basam murmured anxiously.

"I don't know, I can't see them anymore!" Kuei said, his gaze searching the area frantically for some sign of life. Finally, he got one: a small figure floating up into the air, just visible from where they sat. Streams of fire, impossibly huge, erupted from it as a vast whirlwind sprang up beneath it. Kuei could even see the pillars before the figure crumbling; boulders floated up towards the hovering figure as water flowed up from beyond his line of sight. The elements whirled around the hovering person, twisting into a sphere, and Kuei felt a surge of indescribable joy.

"It's him! It's Aang!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet. He laughed breathlessly and flung his arms up. "The Avatar's alive!"

Zafirah and Basam both leaped up as well. "I don't believe it," Zafirah gasped, and then she, too, laughed.

"Look at that, all four elements at once! Whoever he's fightin', they're really in for it now!" Basam whooped.

The fight continued even more chaotically than ever, until finally the Avatar's tiny figure ensnared the other with a massive water-tentacle, slamming his opponent down atop a lava pillar not too far from their own. A stream of intertwined elements shot upward into the air—he could see the glare of fire and the blue of water, studded with boulders. The stream twisted up and up before plunging back down—and then falling apart. Kuei held his breath, staring at the top of the pillar in fearful anticipation. Zafirah gripped his hand so tightly that his knuckles popped. From the corner of his eye, he saw Basam watching the pillar with an intensity Kuei had never seen from him before.

Basam bounced on his toes, muttering, "What's happening up the—" He broke off with a yell of shock as three beams of ice blue light burst upward into the sky. A moment later, three beams of fiery orange-red joined them. Kuei and his companions gazed up at them in silent awe. The lights grew ever brighter and began to spread, filling the sky with their supernatural glow.

They gathered close together again as the ground began to shake. Bosco growled in fear and covered his eyes with his paws. Kuei wanted to move, to run, to do _something_, but he stood transfixed. The lights flared, filling the sky with blinding brilliance and the shaking threatened to knock them off their feet. Kuei shielded his eyes with one hand; his other arm was wrapped tightly around Zafirah's waist as she held onto him. Basam held on tightly to both of them and they stood together, holding each other steady.

The three companions retreated back against the side of the rock column again, huddled against each other, as the fiery-hued light spread. It burned through the blue light until it overpowered even the red light of the comet, enveloping the sky, so that only a thin sliver of blue remained.

But then, the blue light _exploded_. It flared with a surge of unimaginable power, driving away the orange-red light. And then a single beam of bright blue shot up and pierced the heavens, vanishing into the roiling clouds above with a thunderous crack.

With that, it was over. The light faded away, leaving behind the dull red sky from the comet's passage and the orange glow of the forest fires. Kuei, Zafirah, and Basam all leaned against each other, utterly motionless, with Bosco cowering at their feet. None of them spoke.

Water rose from the ocean and from the rivers and ponds in the forest, dousing the forest fires. Looking out towards the shore, Kuei could see that the damaged airships had all landed amidst the trees; for a moment, with the water swelling up around them, they looked like seafaring ships. The water receded, leaving the forest soaked and wreathed in smoke.

They stayed up there on the pillar for a while longer, though Kuei couldn't have really said what it was that kept them there. Was it fear? Exhaustion? Perhaps it was both. Eventually, though, they did climb down. The charred earth felt dry and crunchy under Kuei's feet and he wondered how the shoeless twins would fare with it. Judging by the distant looks on their faces, though, they had other things on their minds. They set off through the forest again as if on some unspoken cue; it seemed none of them wanted to linger there. They walked slowly, still coughing from the smoke. For a long time, not a single word passed between them.

* * *

Zafirah was numb as they picked their way through the burnt remains of Wulong Forest. The once-green trees were now nothing more than charcoal; where there had once been the sounds of life in the forest, she now heard only silence. The lingering smoke in the air stung her eyes and tickled her lungs, an unavoidable reminder of what had just happened. She wasn't sure what to think or feel. She looked around at the blackened trees like they could give her answers.

"So we're sure that was the Avatar?" she asked finally, breaking the unbearably heavy silence over them.

"I… I can't imagine who else it might have been," Kuei murmured.

"But what was that light? We heard plenty of stories about the Avatar's powers back home, and that was never one of 'em," Basam said shakily. "And who was the other one? Was he fighting a Spirit, maybe?"

"I doubt it. The Avatar is supposed to be a bridge between the Spirits' realm and our own." Kuei looked downward as he thought about it.

"Maybe it was the Firelord," Basam said quietly. "You said the Avatar needed to face off against the Firelord, right?"

"Yes," Kuei agreed.

"You might be right about that, Basam," Zafirah said. She searched around for something else to say, to keep that silence from coming back. "I mean, who else could it have been? It had to have been someone really tough."

"Still doesn't explain the lights," Basam mumbled. They fell back into silence again, the stillness only broken by the burnt earth crunching. It scratched against the bottoms of her feet, but she ignored the discomfort.

After about an hour, a metallic gleam caught Zafirah's eye. She turned, searching for its source. She spotted it stuck into the charred trunk of a tree. "Hey, look at that," she said.

"What is it?" Kuei asked. Zafirah pointed at the tree as she walked over to investigate. It was a jian sword—she remembered the type from their weapons shop back at the oasis. But it wasn't like any other blade she'd ever seen. Its blade gleamed jet black, instead of the bright silver of normal steel.

"It's gorgeous!" Basam exclaimed. He darted over to get a closer look at it. Kuei followed him and bent forward to get a glimpse of it.

"It _is_ lovely," he agreed. Zafirah grabbed the hilt and yanked, but it wouldn't budge. Kuei gave it a try after she gave up; being the tallest of them, he had a better angle on it. He couldn't get it, either, so Basam tried next. He wrenched it out of the wood with a crack, then stepped back from the tree and held the blade up.

"Excellent workmanship," he said approvingly, giving it a heft. He handed it to Zafirah, who whistled as she looked it over.

"Yeah, yeah, very nice," she said. "Perfectly balanced."

"May I?" Kuei asked, gazing curiously at it. Zafirah gave it to him and she couldn't help but smile as he swung it awkwardly around.

"You should keep it, Kuei," Basam suggested. "You need a good weapon."

"Oh, I couldn't! I have no idea how to use it properly!" he protested, but Zafirah could see the longing on his face as he examined the blade.

"You can always learn," Zafirah pointed out.

"That's true. All right, I'll keep it!" Kuei decided. Then a puzzled look came over his face. "But where will I keep it? There's no scabbard."

"Wrap it up in some cloth. That's what we did back in the oasis when we had bare blades like that," Basam said.

"Won't the blade cut through the cloth?" Kuei asked.

"Not if you do it right," Zafirah said. She started rummaging through the supply pack strapped to Bosco's side, pulling out a spare canvas sack. She wrapped it around the blade and then carefully tied the bundled sword to the outside of the pack. "There!" she said with a nod. Kuei gave her a grateful smile, looping his arm around her waist, and they set off again.

"That sword is a good omen, if you ask me," Basam commented. "Could be that we'll have more good fortune coming our way."

"You might be right about that," Kuei said. Zafirah had never really held with the idea of omens, but this time, she wanted to think that her brother was right. She heaved a sigh and leaned against Kuei as they walked. He wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her in. She reached over to Basam, walking on her other side, and linked her arm through his.

High overhead, the comet passed towards the horizon, leaving a cloudy night sky in its wake as the three companions walked on.

* * *

Kuei dragged himself into his tent that night and slumped down onto his sleeping bag, utterly exhausted. "Just when you think life can't get any stranger!" he sighed.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Zafirah muttered, flopping down onto her sleeping bag next to him. "It's cold here!" she announced suddenly. She scooted closer to him.

He glanced down at the top of her head. "You think so?" he asked.

"Yep," she said.

"Hmm. I suppose this _is_ much farther north than you're used to," Kuei commented. He slipped his arm beneath her and brought her close to share their body heat. He yawned as he reached up with his free hand to rub his left shoulder, which had gotten sore at some point during their chaotic day.

"Is your shoulder buggin' you?" Zafirah asked, craning her head up to follow his hand.

"Yes," he admitted. "I must have pulled it oddly when we were, ah, well… running for our lives, heh."

She sat up and motioned for him to do the same. "C'mere, I'll give you a shoulder rub," she offered. His heavy eyelids tempted him to decline and simply go to sleep, but a shoulder rub did sound appealing, so he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"All right. Thanks," he said, smiling.

She winked and tugged at his tunic. "Take this off first," she murmured. He obliged, casting it aside. She smirked and whistled suggestively as he did, making his cheeks redden. The cool air on his bare skin reminded him that they really _were_ quite far north. Zafirah moved to sit on her knees behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders; as she pressed her fingers firmly against his skin, working at the soreness in his muscles, he was glad he hadn't turned her down!

"That feels great," he sighed happily.

"Good," Zafirah purred, working her hands up to the base of his neck. The tension and sore spots in his muscles ebbed away slowly, leaving him relaxed and filled with warmth. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes, absolutely," he said. Then he craned his head around to look at her. "Do you want me to, er, do the same for you? I can't guarantee that I'll be as good at it as you are, but I could try."

"Hmm… maybe some other time," she said. She slid her hands forward over his chest to embrace him, gently kissing the back of his neck. "I've got something else in mind you could do for me, though," she added in a teasing whisper.

He smiled widely. "Anything you want, darling."


	24. Chapter 20

**So, as with Chapter 19, this one is also a pretty significant chapter: it marks the end of Part 2 of CST, the solar eclipse and the comet. There's a lot that happens in this chapter, so read on!**

**Now, I know I originally said that Ch20 would be posted the day after Ch19. However, getting the final revisions took a little longer than expected, and then I decided to hold it back on purpose. I decided to hold it back till today, December 30****th****. Why is that? Because today marks exactly two years since I first published the Prologue of CST online. It's kind of hard to believe that I've been working on this project for two entire years. So much has changed in my life since I began this journey, and the story's not over quite yet! **

* * *

**CHAPTER 20—THE WAR'S END**

_Two days later…_

"So where is this place, anyway?" Zafirah asked impatiently. Kuei could hear the anxiety in her tone; and looking at her twin, he could see tension in the set of his jaw and the hardness of his gaze. Kuei couldn't blame them for being anxious, given what was at stake.

Kuei pored over the map they'd pilfered from the Fire Nation camp's communications tent. "It should be around here somewhere," he murmured. "The map says it's some sort of factory… I imagine something like that should be fairly easy to find!"

"Yeah, you'd think!" Basam remarked with an unusual edge of sarcasm.

Kuei blinked in surprise. "I really am doing my best, you know. It's not as though I've been here before to know the terrain," he said.

Basam squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry. I just wanna find this place. Maybe we got turned around?"

"Or maybe you're reading that map wrong, Kuei," Zafirah said. Though her words were blunt, she sounded more preoccupied than anything else. "Let me see that thing." Before Kuei could protest, she grabbed it from his hands and buried her nose in it.

"Look, up ahead—is that a road?" Basam asked. Kuei squinted through the sparse forest that they were walking through; he could see a break in the trees up ahead that stretched on as far as he could see in either direction.

"That could be the road marked out on this map," he said, peering over Zafirah's arm at the parchment. They headed towards it and sure enough, the trees opened up onto a wide dirt road. It took the better part of an afternoon, but eventually they spotted an immense metal building looming ahead, just beyond a wooden bridge. Tall smokestacks rose up from it, but no smoke rose from them.

They got off the road right away, creeping through the trees to approach it. As they drew closer, though, Kuei noticed something peculiar: the main gate of the factory stood open and there were people streaming out of it, but none wore Fire Nation uniforms. In fact, there was no red to be seen in the crowd. They all wore varying shades of brown and grey.

"Um, I don't think there's much need for stealth here," Kuei pointed out.

"You sure about that?" Zafirah whispered. "We don't know who those people are." She squinted at them as some of the crowd crossed the bridge and started down the road towards them.

"They don't look much like soldiers, I'll say that," Basam remarked. Kuei was inclined to agree with him. Their clothing looked tattered, even from this distance. He could hear happy chatter and laughter as they got closer.

"They do seem awfully cheerful for slaves in a Fire Nation factory," Kuei said.

"Right," Zafirah muttered. "I guess we might as well go for it, then." They stood from their hiding place and stepped out onto the road, drawing the attention of some of the rag-clad people headed their way.

"Hello," Kuei called out to them as he and his friends approached them. He got a few waves and shouted greetings in reply.

"Hey there!" said a short, muscular man at the front of the nearest group.

"What's going on here?" Kuei asked.

"We're finally free, that's what!" yelled a dark-skinned woman behind the short man. "It's all over!" She flung her hands up and twirled around, laughing merrily.

"What's over?" Basam asked, bewildered. The group of strangers gaped at him.

"You don't know? Really?" the short man asked in astonishment. "The war, my friends! The war's ended! The soldiers here, they got a messenger hawk from the Fire Nation a day ago telling them to stand down and let us all go, that the Firelord had been defeated! They all high-tailed it outta here just this morning, hah, those cowards."

Kuei stared at the short man, unable to believe the words he was hearing. "You… y-you're sure?" he sputtered, gaping.

"Well, yeah! You heard what I just said, didn't ya?" the man asked.

"Yes, yes, of course, sorry," Kuei said, too stunned to be embarrassed. Zafirah and Basam stepped towards the man urgently.

"Were there any Sandbenders in there with you?" Basam asked.

"Anyone from the desert?" Zafirah chimed in.

A woman behind the short man piped up. "Yeah, there were," she said. "A whole bunch of them. They said they were from the Jaren Tribe, or something like that—" The woman hadn't even finished her sentence before the twins sprinted off down the road.

"Thank you," Kuei said hurriedly, and then he and Bosco ran off after their companions. Even running full tilt, he couldn't keep up with them. Already far ahead of him, they crossed the bridge that spanned the polluted river running past the factory. By the time he reached the main gate of the factory, they had disappeared into the crowd within. However, it didn't take him long to find them; he heard Zafirah's shriek rising over the commotion and dashed towards the sound.

* * *

Zafirah darted and weaved through the crowds of former slaves milling around, with Basam right behind her.

"You see anyone?" Basam asked anxiously, holding onto her shoulder.

"No, not yet." She searched and searched, looking for even the slightest glimpse of a familiar face. Finally, after pushing their way through what felt like endless crowds, she found one; even with all the dirt and grease smudged on his face, there was no mistaking him. She let out a yell and shoved her way over.

The young man she'd spotted glanced up and spotted her, his eyes going wide. "Zafirah? Basam?" he asked, astonished.

"Ghashiun!" Basam yelled back, waving to him. Zafirah reached him first and flung her arms around his neck.

"Spirits and ancestors, am I glad to see you!" she exclaimed. Then she stood back, laughing giddily. "Never thought I'd say that, but there you go!" Basam moved in after her, giving their fellow Tribesman a hearty hug and a clap on the back.

"Good to see you still alive and kicking! Where's everyone else? Is everyone here?" Basam asked eagerly.

"Yeah—well, most of us," Ghashiun added darkly. "We lost a lot of people in here." He turned his head and spat on the ground. "How in the Spirit World did you two find us, anyway? Where have you been?"

"It's a long story," Basam said, shaking his head and still grinning.

"Huh! Well, hold on a second." He turned around, waving to a group behind him. "Hey, guys! Get over here, it's Zafirah and Basam!" he yelled.

Zafirah clapped her hands over her mouth, tears flooding her eyes as the familiar faces of the Janan Tribe surrounded her and her brother. But there was a current of sadness under the joy; just like Ghashiun had said, she saw far too many of her kin missing.

She couldn't have said how long they all stood there, reuniting with their stolen tribe. Eventually their leader, Sha-Mo, stepped forward and put his hands on Zafirah and Basam's shoulders.

"Let's get out of this damned factory," he declared. "Then we can properly enjoy this happy occasion, and our freedom!" There was a shout of agreement from the whole group and they started moving towards the main gate. Zafirah spotted Kuei waiting next to them with a wide smile on his face. She took his hand and leaned her head contentedly against his upper arm.

Ghashiun caught sight of them walking along and narrowed his eyes at Kuei. "You look familiar," he said warily. "Have we—wait… hold on! You're that tourist, the one from the oasis! But—but that was months ago," he spluttered. "What the…"

"Like Basam said: it's a long story," Zafirah said, winking at the bewildered man.

The tribe headed out of the factory and staked out a spot in the open ground surrounding the place. Zafirah and her friends helped some of their sick and wounded kin along; even Bosco helped carry a few people. They picked their spot in the shade of some trees nearby and settled in to savor their new freedom.

Sha-Mo's first question wasn't surprising to either of the twins. "What happened after the attack on the oasis?" he asked. "Did you spread the word?"

"We did," Zafirah said with a nod. "The three of us went out and found the Aqila Tribe."

"Three?" he echoed. Basam pointed at Kuei, who was sitting next to Zafirah. "Ah, so he's been with you two since then."

"That's right," Zafirah agreed.

"And he's been a big help, too!" Basam added. "We've been through a lot this summer, us three." He slung one arm around Kuei's shoulders and the other around his sister's.

Sha-Mo smiled faintly. "I think we all have," he said quietly.

Zafirah leaned forward, her good mood fading a little as she imagined what he tribespeople had endured. "How bad was it?" she asked quietly.

Ghashiun, sitting next to his father, gave a snort. "We were slaves in a factory! How do you think it was?" he retorted, but it only had a shadow of his usual venom. Sha-Mo looked sadly at his son before replying to the twins.

"He's right, we can't say that it was an easy time. But it could have been worse, I suppose," he said. "The soldiers kept us fed, although they worked us to the bone and didn't care overly much when we grew ill, as you can see."

"Did they…" Basam began, trailing off in hesitation. "Did they, y'know, hurt any of you?"

"At times," Sha-Mo said darkly. "But not as often as they might have, which is why I say that it could have been worse. We didn't lose many people."

"But we did lose some," Basam remarked sorrowfully.

"Yeah, we did," Ghashiun muttered. A heavy silence settled over them as they sat in mourning for their kin. As the day had gone on, Zafirah had noticed more and more missing faces: Yusra, a cousin of theirs; Aasim, the healer; Masum, the foreman of the sandglider building crew that Basam had been on. She'd been talking with Masum the same day that the Fire Nation had attacked, when Basam had come back from his work that morning to get some sleep… She could still remember him laughing at some joke she'd made as her brother had shuffled sleepily past her towards their hut.

The sound of slow, shuffling footsteps approaching them made Zafirah lift her head, and what she saw brought a smile to her face.

"Fung!" she exclaimed.

"Hellp, Zafirah," he said, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "It's good to see you again." She hopped to her feet and hugged him carefully, and then felt a twinge of alarm as he pulled away from the hug and coughed.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm all right," he said. "I was ill a week or two ago, but I'm on the mend now."

"Good!" Zafirah said. She turned to Kuei and waved him over happily, grabbing his hand as he joined her. "This is Fung, that guy I told you about—the one who taught Pai Sho to me!"

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Fung," Kuei said with a small bow. "You certainly taught her well."

"Ah, so you haven't been letting my lessons go to waste, then, Zafirah?" Fung asked.

"Course not!" she replied. "Me and Kuei here had a little Pai Sho showdown not too long ago."

"And how did the game end? Did you win?"

Zafirah scratched her ear sheepishly, remembering what had happened that night. "Uh, I guess you could say it was a draw," she said.

* * *

As Kuei watched his companions reconnect with their people, he suddenly realized what the end of the war meant for his own people. He got up, Bosco at his heels, and hurried over to the group of Sandbenders. Sidling up to a woman sitting at the outside of the group, he crouched down next to her and cleared his throat.

"Um, excuse me," he said. She glanced sideways at him.

"Yes, what do you want?" she asked distractedly, her eyes going back to her group.

"I was wondering about the message that the Fire Nation troops here received, the one informing them of the war's end…" He trailed off for a second, struck by the sheer oddness of that phrase, before going on. "Did the message say anything about the occupation of Ba Sing Se?"

"No, but it said all the Firebenders had been ordered to stand down," she said.

"So then… then Ba Sing Se is free?" he wondered, sitting forward eagerly.

"I guess so. 'Scuse me." She turned back to the rest of her group, but Kuei hardly noticed. He stood up again and wandered a few paces away, not noticing where his feet went. Ba Sing Se was free! The war was over and the soldiers had all been called to surrender, which meant that his city had to be free. He pressed his hand to his mouth, overwhelmed with relief and joy.

_And if Ba Sing Se is free,_ he thought, _then that means…that means I have to go back! _He paced back and forth for a few steps, his thoughts whirling. There was no question about it—he had to get to Ba Sing Se as soon as possible; the Fire Nation may have been gone, but it wouldn't do to leave the city without a leader. He would have to leave right away.

As he turned back towards his friends to tell them of this, an edge of worry stole through his happiness. He looked anxiously over at them, sitting and talking with their tribe. His exile was over; his journey had reached its end.

As evening fell, a few of the Sandbenders went back to the factory to raid some supplies for dinner. Zafirah, Basam, and Kuei drifted back together at the edge of the camp. The twins both looked drained as they sat down with him, slouching against each other. Kuei felt a tinge of anxiousness as he remembered his earlier realization, but he pushed it aside to enjoy this moment with his companions. He would worry about their reactions when the time came—but he knew that time would have to come before the night was through.

"The war's really over," Zafirah murmured, the corners of her mouth pulling upward.

"Yep. It's really, definitely over," Basam said. He heaved a happy sigh and draped his arm around his sister's shoulders, hugging her tightly. She reached up and squeezed his hand, then reached out her other arm and grabbed Kuei's hand.

"It's a strange thought, isn't it?" Kuei said. "A world without this war… I didn't even know it existed a few months ago. I can scarcely fit my mind around it! A hundred years of war have ended—just like that!"

"I guess all those Fire Nation military folks are of a job," Zafirah said absently. Three sets of eyes met, and then Basam let out a giddy little chortle. Zafirah joined him, and Kuei couldn't help but laugh with them. Soon, all three of them were howling with laughter, leaning against each other to stay upright.

* * *

After a while, someone came by to recruit Zafirah and Basam to help with dinner. They happily obliged, following along with a small group headed off to the factory to join the raid. One of the girls in the group bounced up to them, face gleaming excitedly.

"Been a few months, you two!" she said cheerfully.

Basam recalled her name right away. "Jamila!" he exclaimed, hugging her. Zafirah grinned as she remembered the kid, who was actually some distant cousin of theirs.

"It's so good to see you both," Jamila squealed, hugging Basam back. Once she let go of him, she turned to Zafirah and flung her arms open.

"Hey, you!" Zafirah said as she hugged the girl. The three of them fell into step with each other at the back of the group.

"So, you guys had a pretty busy summer, from what I hear," Jamila said.

"Yeah, you could say that," Zafirah agreed, linking arms with Basam, who chortled.

"And what's next? You're comin' home with us, right?" Jamila asked expectantly.

Zafirah paused in mid-step to share a glance with Basam, whose face echoed her own sudden shock.

"I, uh…" A twinge of unease went through her stomach. "'Scuse us for a minute," she said to a puzzled Jamila, grabbing Basam's arm and pulling him back a few feet behind the group.

"I never even thought of that," Basam muttered to her.

"Me neither," Zafirah said quietly. She imagined what it'd be like, going home after all this: for one thing, their parents' weapon shop had almost certainly been raided of anything even slightly valuable. But they'd have their tribe back, after all these months apart. With their tribe, they would rebuild and get something like their old lives back—they all would.

There was just one problem… what would happen to Kuei?

* * *

A while later, after they'd settled down to have dinner with the Janan Tribe, Kuei decided it was time to share the conclusion he'd come to. "Well, um," he began uncomfortably. He wasn't quite sure how to break the news to them, so he decided to be as direct as possible. "It occurred to me that Ba Sing Se has most likely been liberated by now."

Basam looked up from his roasted pigchicken leg, "Hey, yeah, that's right!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I bet you must be real happy about that!"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course," Kuei agreed, hesitating before going on. "However, assuming that's true, it means that I—I must return there."

"Return?" Zafirah echoed. She focused her eyes on her dinner, the corners of her mouth tugging downward. "Yeah, I guess you'll have to," she murmured.

"Aw, you mean that's it?" Basam asked sadly. "The gang's gotta split up?"

"Not if you two came with me," Kuei suggested hopefully, venturing a smile. Basam looked excited at the idea, but Zafirah snorted derisively.

"Uh huh, I'm sure we'd fit in real well there," she grumbled. Kuei looked down at his own meal, his appetite weakening. The thought of returning home had never caused him such pain before.

"So, uh, when were you planning on going back?" Basam asked tentatively.

Kuei sighed heavily. He'd already decided on a time, in fact, and now he had to force himself to stick to it. In a low voice, he said, "Tomorrow."

* * *

By the time the sky had darkened, most of the freed slaves from the factory had cleared out and were long gone down the road. The Janan Tribe had decided to stick around till morning, though; they needed time to get their sick and wounded ready to travel, and there were plenty of medical supplies to be had in the now-abandoned factory.

Zafirah and her companions had set up their tents at the edge of the group, but she and Basam stayed up late into the night with their kin, helping wherever they were needed and recounting stories from the time they'd spent apart. Basam had gone and asked Kuei if he wanted the tribe to know who he was, and he hadn't had any objections. Everyone had been surprised, but most of the tribe hadn't been too impressed. The title of Earth King didn't mean a whole lot to them.

When they finally said goodnight, Zafirah stepped into her tent to find Kuei already waiting for her, sitting on his sleeping bag with his legs crossed and hands clasped in his lap. He looked almost guilty as his eyes met hers. Zafirah shuffled over and sat down next to him, pulling her knees up and folding her arms over them.

"So," Zafirah said eventually, struggling to keep her tone even. "Back to Ba Sing Se, huh? Tomorrow?" She couldn't quite bring herself to meet his eyes again.

"I have to go," he replied quietly. "I have a duty to my people."

"I know, I know," Zafirah sighed in frustration. She ran her fingers through the short locks of hair framing her face. "What happens next, then? You go back to your city, I go back to my desert—" Her voice shook and she had to pause to steady herself. "And, what, we forget it ever happened?" It hadn't worked; her voice was still shaking.

"You could come with me!" he urged, reaching over to seize her hands. "Please, Zafirah, come to Ba Sing Se with me."

She jerked her hands back and scrabbled backwards, sitting up on her knees. "I can't!" she sputtered. The hurt look on his face just about broke her heart. She pressed her palms against her forehead. "I—I don't know, okay? I really don't know."

"You wouldn't have to stay if you didn't like it there," Kuei said, an edge of desperation in his voice. "At least stay for a little while, though!"

"It doesn't matter if I like the city!" she exclaimed. "As soon as you go back, you'll take back the throne and be the Earth King again, and I—how in the Spirits-be-damned world do _I _fit into that picture?" She shook her head and felt a sudden swell of bitterness as her own words of weeks ago came back to bite her: _It's a hundred-year war, what're the odds it'll end now?_ she thought sourly.

She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. "This isn't just about you an' me, either. Me and Basam, we just got back with our tribe. We're all in chaos right now—we've all been… uprooted, I guess you could say. They're our _family_, Kuei, we can't turn away from 'em so quickly," she said.

"I know how you feel," he replied heavily. "But—but still, we'll think of something—there must be a way!" Kuei insisted. He reached out to her again, but his hand faltered and stopped halfway. "I just don't want it to end this way," he whispered.

"And you think I do?" Zafirah demanded.

"No, of course not!" Kuei protested.

She took a slow breath through her nose, rubbing her face in her palms again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that," she said quietly. "I need some time to think about this."

"All right," Kuei said wearily. "Fair enough." They sat in pained silence for a moment or two, and then Zafirah held out her arms.

"C'mere," she whispered. Kuei scooted over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She hugged him back, clutching him tightly and breathing deep, memorizing the way he smelled and the warmth of his body. _I can't lose you so soon,_ she thought.

* * *

Kuei woke up the next morning to find the space next to him vacant. An alarming thought crept into the back of his mind: what if she'd left during the night to avoid saying goodbye? _No, she wouldn't do that,_ Kuei told himself. _That's a ridiculous notion._ Nevertheless, he got dressed as quickly as he could and hurried out of the tent. Despite his reassurances to himself, he still felt a wave of relief when he spotted Zafirah and Basam sitting outside with the leader of their tribe— Sha-Mo, if he recalled correctly—and a few others, eating breakfast.

Zafirah looked over at him as he approached and gave him a thin-lipped smile. Basam followed her gaze and flashed his usual grin, but Kuei thought it looked a bit more strained than it normally did. He bobbed his head wordlessly to both of them as he sat down next to Zafirah, and they nodded back.

"Here," Zafirah said, handing him a bowl of rice porridge.

"Thank you," he said quietly, accepting it. He could feel the Janan leader's eyes on him as he took a mouthful of porridge. He swallowed and looked up at the Sandbender, smiling politely.

"Your name is Sha-Mo, isn't it?" he asked. "I don't think we were properly introduced yesterday."

"That's right," he agreed, holding out his hand. Kuei did the same and they grasped forearms briefly. "Basam and Zafirah have been telling me a lot about you, Your Highness."

"Please, you don't have to call me that," Kuei said quickly.

"All right, then. I've heard that you need to get back to Ba Sing Se—is that so?" Sha-Mo asked.

"Yes," Kuei said.

"We were talkin' about it this morning, before you got up," Basam interjected, leaning forward so Kuei could see him. "And we decided that we're all goin' with you!"

"Y-you are?" Kuei asked, stunned. "All of you, as in…"

"As in all of us," Zafirah said, gesturing with her hand.

"The entire tribe?" He was well and truly stunned by then.

"Yep. The Janan Tribe is gonna see you back to Ba Sing Se," she confirmed, her mouth twisting in a rueful smile.

"Wow—I don't know what to say," Kuei said, gaping.

"We'll take you as far as the city's border before heading back to the desert," Sha-Mo explained. "You helped our brother and sister find their way back to us—and from what I've heard, you were a great help to our kin in the Aqila Tribe. Bringing you safely home is the least we could do to return the favor."

"Thank you, I'm honored," Kuei said. The unease in his chest lessened somewhat, but he was still faced with one major question: when they reached Ba Sing Se, where would his companions go?

* * *

By late morning, the tribe had packed up their raided supplies and gotten all their sick and wounded kin ready to travel. Zafirah threw herself into helping to distract herself.

"See ya, you bastards!" Ghashiun crowed as their group started to move away from the factory. The rest of the tribe cheered as he and a few others threw rocks at the building, gesturing rudely and jeering back at it. Zafirah and Basam couldn't help but laugh and cheer with them. But as they moved off into the forest, heading deeper inland—heading towards Ba Sing Se—she felt her glum mood coming back.

"So," Basam said quietly as they walked, "What're we gonna do when we get there?"

Zafirah shot a look at Kuei, walking with Bosco a little bit ahead of them and deep in conversation with Sha-Mo. She heaved a sigh and walked a bit closer to Basam to talk undisturbed. "I have no idea," she murmured.

"We could just stay in the city for a little while—y'know, take a turn at being the tourists for once," he said, nudging her with his elbow.

"I dunno," Zafirah said, doubt gnawing at her insides. "It's not going to the city itself that I'm worried about—it's what'd happen when we're done being tourists. We can't just play around in the city forever, and I can't—" She broke off, her words catching in her throat.

"You can't…?" Basam prompted.

"I can't stay there with him," she said in a strained whisper. "I mean, what, am I going to go and live in the palace? Or live in the city and just go and see him whenever he's not busy doing whatever it is kings do?" She snorted bitterly. "The Earth King's Sandbender girlfriend popping in for a visit. Imagine that, huh? I'm sure that'd go over real well!" She went quiet for a beat before going on. "And what about our tribe? We have a duty to them, too."

"I wish I knew what to say, Zafi," Basam said sadly. But after a minute or two of silence, he suddenly piped up again. "Actually, I do know what to say! You're worried about what people're gonna think about you, right?"

"I guess so, sure," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, who cares what they think, right? So long as you two are happy!" her brother said encouragingly.

"I don't think it's that simple, Basam. Thanks for trying, though," she said heavily. Basam gave her a sorrowful look and sighed, then turned his attention back to the road ahead of them.

* * *

After almost a week on the move, the group reached Makapu Village, a small town situated at the base of a volcano. Personally, Kuei found the idea of living in the shadow of this dangerous colossus to be rather intimidating, but the town's inhabitants seemed blithely unconcerned about it. In fact, they appeared to hold much the same attitude about most things, including the crowd of ragged Sandbenders parading into their town.

None of them had money for an inn, of course, so the whole group ended up camping once again, this time in the trees fringing the town's boundary—or what was left of them. The forest surrounding Makapu had been burned recently; Kuei could see some tender, green sprouts working their way up through the charred soil. _The same will happen to Wulong Forest, eventually,_ he told himself with a faint smile.

But the most peculiar feature of Makapu Village was the massive wall of hardened lava bordering the town, arching up into the air like a frozen wave on the ocean.

"I wonder what the story behind this is," Kuei mused as he looked at it. He glanced at Zafirah and Basam, walking next to him. Bosco went over and swatted the rock wall with his paw, sniffing and growling at it.

"Whatever it is, I bet it's a good one!" Basam commented, walking over and touching the wall. He thumped his fist against it approvingly. Zafirah followed him and climbed up onto a misshapen lump of lava that stood at about the height of her knees, jutting out from the rest of the wall. She put her fists on her hips and smiled.

"This is definitely one of the weirder things we've seen, and that's sayin' something," she declared. Her eyes met Kuei's for a second, but it was enough to dim her smile somewhat and make her turn away, suddenly becoming very interested in stomping her foot against the lava boulder. Kuei looked away as well, his heart aching. Zafirah hopped down and walked back over, reaching for his hand and giving it a tentative squeeze. "C'mon, it's almost sunset. We'd better get our tent set up," she said quietly.

"All right," he replied. They left Basam to explore the lava wall with Bosco. Once they'd finished readying their part of the camp for the evening, Kuei dusted his hands off and gently laid a hand on Zafirah's shoulder.

"I think I'll take a walk into town," he said. "Would you like to join me? I want to find out more about that lava wall."

"Nah, you go ahead," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. "You can fill me in on it later. I need a bit of quiet right now."

"Very well, whatever you prefer," Kuei said, disappointed. He ducked out of the tent, shooting one last look at Zafirah over his shoulder before letting the tent flap fall back into place, hiding her from his sight. As he walked past the lava wall, he looked around for Basam and saw him helping some of his tribe with dinner. Not wanting to bother his friend, he called Bosco over to him and they went into town by themselves.

As he and Bosco strolled through Makapu, it was hard to keep his mind off of his current predicament. It would take them quite a while to reach Ba Sing Se, but each day still brought him closer to the time when he might have to bid farewell to the twins. Needless to say, losing them would tear a hole right through his heart; just the thought of it hurt. He briefly entertained the notion of not returning at all, but he immediately dismissed it with a surge of guilt. But still, when he thought of losing his dear friend and the woman he cared deeply for…

Soon enough, his goal of learning more about the lava wall had completely slipped his mind. In fact, he was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice anything was amiss until it was much too late.

The screams of startled villagers jerked him from his glum reverie and he heard the heavy tread of a large animal galloping up behind him. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened in terror at the massive, furry creature bearing down on him, its muzzle parted to reveal rows of razor teeth. He recognized it as a shirshu, and it was coming straight towards him. Bosco roared in fury, raising up on his hind legs.

Kuei turned to flee as a sound like a whip crackled through the air. The shirshu's infamous barbed tongue smacked across the side of his neck with a painful sting; almost immediately, his feet and hands began to tingle. His knees gave way as numbness overcame his body, and he crumpled to the ground, his head striking the dirt street forcefully. The shouts and cries of the townspeople grew distant in his ears, as though he were hearing them through thick fabric. His heart hammered against his ribs as terror pumped through him and panic rose in him as he struggled in vain to move his disobedient limbs.

Through his swimming vision, Kuei saw a pair of black leather boots striding towards him. Bosco charged at the owner of the boots, but then the crack of the shirshu's tongue resounded through the air again and the bear fell to the ground. Kuei's stomach twisted in alarm at the sight of his fallen pet.

A pale, slender hand reached down and grabbed Kuei's tunic, hauling him up with surprising strength. He found himself looking into the smirking face of a darkly attractive woman. One kohl-lined eye narrowed at him, the other hidden behind a curtain of black hair.

"Good evening, Your Highness," she sneered. She dragged him over to the huge beast and slung his limp body across the back of her saddle, tying him down tightly. Dread filled his chest as the woman cracked a whip, and the monstrous animal charged off. Kuei could faintly hear Bosco roaring in distress as the shirshu carried him away into the deepening dusk.

* * *

**And thus concludes Part 2 of CST, the eclipse and the comet. Chapter 21 will begin Part 3—and it will also begin the final story arc. Yes, that's right, we're approaching the end here. There's still quite a bit of ground to cover before the end, but we are getting there. See? I promised way back in the earliest chapters that I'd finish this fic no matter how long it took, and two years later, here I am on the verge of fulfilling that promise. I hope you will stick with me to the finale and see Kuei's journey to its conclusion! It's been an epic journey, both for me and my characters, and I am eternally grateful to all of my readers, both new and old, and to my betas, Kitty East and Quantumreality.**

**Man, now I'm getting all sentimental. Time to end this AN! Updates may be coming even more slowly than usual, unfortunately, because my life outside of fandom has recently become very busy. But as I've said, I will be seeing this story all the way to the end. So, I'll see you next time!**


	25. Chapter 21

**Surprise! Guess which fanfic is not, in fact, dead? This one! CST has been on a hiatus since December due to my personal life suddenly becoming very, very busy. A lot has happened since then, far too much to discuss in a brief AN, so suffice to say that things have been pretty wild over here, but now we're back! Yes, CST is officially back in action. I meant it when I said that I wasn't going to abandon this story, no matter how long it took to finish. I don't know how many readers I still have, but for those of you that are still reading, I applaud you and appreciate you so very, very much. And to any new readers who may be jumping on board… welcome to the journey that has spanned the past two years of my life, hahaha.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 21—THE SEARCH BEGINS**

Zafirah sat quietly in her tent for a while, lost in her thoughts. She wasn't any closer to deciding what she was going to do when she and her tribe reached Ba Sing Se with Kuei.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt anythin' to go and stay in the city for a couple weeks, maybe," she said under her breath. "But if I decide not to stay after that… Could I even do that?" She groaned and buried her face in her hands. This was more or less the same circle she'd been going around in for days. Sometimes it took detours, but it always came back to the same frustrating, stupid place.

"I can't stay there forever and I can't leave the tribe behind," she muttered; she'd lost count of how many times she'd told herself that. Fighting down the lump in her throat, she got to her feet and stormed out of the tent. _I'd better go and make myself useful before I go insane,_ she thought sourly. It was sunset already, she noticed; they'd be setting up dinner. Looking around the quickly darkening camp, she spotted her brother leaving the cooking area and hurrying towards the makeshift shelter where their sick and wounded kin were resting.

"Hey, there you are! You feeling okay?" Basam asked.

"'M fine," she said quietly. "They need any help with the food over there?"

"They're just about done, but I'm sure they'll find you somethin' to do," he said. "I'm bein' sent off for healer duty." Zafirah nodded and started to walk past him, but he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "We'll find a way to solve this thing with you and Kuei," he said gently. "There's gotta be an answer."

"Yeah, I hope so," Zafirah muttered. She reached up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder, then kept on walking towards the cooking spot. Next to the fire she spotted Aimu, a man who'd been a friend of their parents, and jogged over to him. He put her to work dishing out bowls of rice and spicy pig-chicken curry to the first few people lining up to eat. As she was handing a bowl to a woman named Fairuz, she noticed a squat, dark shape trundling down the path from the village towards their camp. She shaded her eyes with her hand to see it better.

"Huh, that's weird," she remarked.

"What is?" asked Fairuz.

"Bosco's comin' back, but Kuei's not with him," Zafirah said.

"Bosco?" Fairuz echoed. "Oh, that strange bear creature! Is it really that odd for the animal to be coming back without him?"

"Yeah, it kinda is. They hardly ever go anywhere without each other," Zafirah said distractedly. She excused herself and went over to the bear, who was growling quietly in a way that gave her an uneasy feeling in her gut. _Come to think of it, I haven't seen Kuei at all since earlier,_ she realized. "C'mon, Bosco," she said, absently patting the bear's head. Together, they went off to find her brother.

After asking around, she found him bandaging injuries. His patient at the moment was Jamila. "Hey, Zafi!" she said, doing her best to hide a wince as Basam put salve on a stitched-up cut in her left leg.

"Hey there, Jamila," she said, smiling at the girl. "I'm gonna have to borrow my brother once he's done with your leg."

"Pssh, by all means, take 'im!" The girl waved her hand dismissively. "He's doin' nothing but torturin' me, anyways."

Basam chuckled and shook his head. "It'd go a lot smoother if you didn't squirm so damn much," he chided her. He tied off the bandage and sat back on his heels. "And there we go, all done." Then he stood up and moved a few paces away with Zafirah. "What's up?" he asked.

"Have you seen Kuei around lately? Bosco came back from town without him," she said.

"He did? That's weird," Basam remarked.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I said."

"How long's he been gone?" he asked.

"He left a little bit after we got here. Remember all of us takin' a look at that rock wave? Just after that, he said he wanted to go ask about it," Zafirah said.

"That was hours ago," her brother said with a frown.

"Yeah, I know. Let's go into town and see if we can find 'im," she suggested. They quickly told Sha-Mo of their plans and took to the road leading into town from their camp, with Bosco at their side. The bear trotted along next to them, turning his head and growling at them like he was telling them to get a move on and pick up the pace.

Zafirah hugged her arms around herself as they walked. There was a chill in the air; autumn was coming, after all, and they were pretty far north. If Kuei had been there, she knew he'd have put an arm around her to keep her warm. She tightened her arms around her torso and walked even faster.

Night was falling fast, the few lamps in town already being lit as they arrived. As soon as they set foot in town, Bosco broke into a slow lope. Zafirah and her brother had to jog to keep up, and now the uneasy twisting in her belly was impossible to ignore or shake off as just her overreacting. She rarely saw the lazy bear this agitated. From the corners of her eyes, she could see a few people walking along the streets giving them strange looks. She couldn't blame them: they must've made a damned odd sight.

All of a sudden, Bosco skidded to a halt, his black nose to the ground. Basam stepped forward and bent down, picking something up. He straightened up and faced towards Zafirah, an alarmed look in his eyes that gave Zafirah a horrible feeling.

"Zafirah, look," Basam said grimly. He held his hand out; a pair of round eyeglasses, their lenses cracked. A chill went up her spine that had nothing to do with the coming autumn. She grabbed the glasses from him and clutched them in her hand. Looking around hurriedly, she spotted a shopkeeper sweeping the doorway of his store. She rushed over to him with Basam and Bosco right behind her.

"'Scuse me!" she called, waving to him as she reached him. "Hey, excuse me!"

The shopkeeper looked up at her. "Yes, can I help you?" he asked.

"There was a guy here," Zafirah said, her voice shaking. "He was about this tall, dark hair, pale skin. He was wearin' these and he had that animal with him," she said, showing him the glasses and pointing to Bosco. "You seen him?"

"Hmm," the shopkeeper hummed slowly. Zafirah gritted her teeth in frustration. "Yes, in fact, I did see him. A bounty hunter came through here and picked him up a while ago. If you were hoping to claim him yourselves, you're too late," he added, glancing dubiously at the pair of them.

"A bounty hunter?" she exclaimed, horrified. "H-how d'you know that? What makes you so sure?"

"She passed through here once before with a couple of Fire Nation men," the shopkeeper said, scorn in his tone.

"So you saw him get snatched up by a bounty hunter… _and no one did anythin' to help him?!_" Zafirah yelled.

The shopkeeper shrugged. "I didn't think there was any need to, and I'm guessing everyone else on the street thought likewise."

"No need? No need?!" she echoed, clenching her fists. She seized the front of the man's tunic, pulling him down to her level. "What Spirits-forsaken reason made you think that?!"

"Bounty hunters are usually after criminals! Why in the world would I think he needed help?" the man replied sharply. Zafirah bristled, winding up for a good yell, but Basam's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"D'you remember what the bounty hunter looked like?" he asked.

"Of course I do," the shopkeeper replied, eying Basam warily. "She had black hair, and she was wearing all black, as well. It's her animal I remember best, though. It was some sort of big, hairy beast with a tongue like a whip. That thing must've been poisonous or some such: one hit from it and that young man hit the dirt like a sack of radishes."

Cold fear gripped Zafirah's heart and she let go of the man's tunic with numb hands. "One more question," she said faintly. "Which way did this bounty hunter go?"

"East," the man replied, dusting off his tunic. Zafirah nodded and turned away from him. Basam grabbed her arm with one hand and gently put the other one on her back. Together, they walked away from the shop. Bosco let out a low, mournful whine as he followed them.

_East,_ Zafirah thought. _Towards Ba Sing Se._ She clenched her fists, determination rising inside her.

"So what's the plan now?" Basam asked quietly.

"Well, one thing's for damn sure," Zafirah said, her voice hard. "We're not goin' back to the desert just yet."

* * *

Kuei drifted into consciousness, his head swimming. He hadn't even realized he'd blacked out until he woke up. It was sunset, that much he could tell—how much time had passed? Was this the same sunset of before he'd been captured, or had he really lost an entire day? He was in a forest, too, and sitting on the ground, propped up against a tree trunk with his hands and feet still bound. The ropes and rough bark scraped against his hands as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position. The bounty hunter sat nearby, cooking a skewer of meat over a small fire. His stomach growled at the savory smell, but he ignored it.

He opened his mouth to speak, but found it too parched to get words out. He cleared his throat and tried again. He could only get one word out: "Why…?"

"Right to the point, I see," the woman replied in an off-handed way, not taking her eyes off of her dinner.

"Who put you up to this?" he croaked. "Was it Long Feng?"

"My my, you're just full of questions that I have no incentive whatsoever to answer," she replied.

Kuei chuckled humorlessly, a dry sound that crackled in his throat. "It couldn't possibly do any harm to tell me," he pointed out. "It's not as if I could run away. You'd only catch me again."

"That's true," she agreed with a proud smirk. "Fine, if you really want to know that badly: there's been a warrant for your arrest for _ages_. Really, I'd say it's surprising that no one else beat me to the punch, but that'd imply there's someone out there who _could_ beat me."

"Who put out the warrant?" he asked.

"The Fire Nation—who else? But there's been a change of power in Ba Sing Se, or so I've heard, so I'm going to take you there and sell you to the highest bidder. How's that sound?" she asked, voice laced with fake pleasantness.

"Delightful," Kuei replied sardonically. Then, in desperation, he said, "Please, don't do this. Whatever money they're offering you, I will double it when I get my throne back. Please, I'm begging you, let me go."

"Not on your life!" June retorted. "With the gold I'll get from you, I could retire! Not that I would, of course, but I could do it."

Kuei looked down, defeated. A sudden memory resurfaced, of something else the Avatar and his friends had told him. In recounting their adventures, they'd mentioned a bounty hunter—a woman who rode a shirshu. "You're June, aren't you?" he asked.

"I see you've heard of me. Good. A lady's got to maintain her reputation, after all," she said.

"And I've heard of your mount, too," he went on, feeling unusually spiteful at that moment. "Why did we stop? Is the legendary strength and speed of the shirshu not all it's said to be?"

"I was hungry," June replied flatly, her one visible eye narrowing. "And now I'm tired of listening to your chatter." She dug a black-tipped dart out of the leather bag at her side and stood up, stepping over to him. She paused, standing above him with her head tilted. He felt a tinge of fear, worrying that he'd gone too far. "It's too bad," she said musingly. "You're a lot cuter than most of my bounties."

He only had a moment to feel discomfort at the idea of his kidnapper flirting with him, and then June crouched down and sank the dart into his bare upper arm. He felt the sting of the needle tip and then darkness overtook him.

* * *

As the twins stumbled back to the Janan Tribe's camp, it was Jamila who spotted them coming and rushed over to them.

"Did you find yer buddy?" she asked, giving them a smile that fell from her face a moment later. "What's the matter?"

"He's gone," Zafirah said angrily.

"Ya mean he left? That's awful rude of him!" Jamila exclaimed, appalled.

"No, he didn't leave on his own. He was kidnapped," she replied, her voice low. Her fists were clenched at her sides so hard that her knuckles popped.

"A bounty hunter took him away," Basam explained in a heavy tone. He stroked Bosco's head, the bear whining softly.

"Oh," Jamila said, eyes widening.

"D'you know where Sha-Mo is?" Zafirah asked.

"We need to talk to him," Basam added. Jamila nodded and took them to their chieftain. As they told him about Kuei's disappearance, a deep frown creased his face and he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Do you know why this happened?" he asked.

"I've got a few ideas," Zafirah replied darkly. "He had some enemies back in Ba Sing Se—"

"A fellow by the name of Long Feng," Basam interjected. "To put it shortly, he's been controlling Kuei for most of his life."

"In fact, it was this Long Feng guy who's responsible for the Fire Nation snatching Ba Sing Se like they did," Zafirah added.

"Or it could've been the Fire Nation, I guess," Basam said. "We did do a whole lot to piss 'em off this summer. They could've put out a warrant before the Fire Lord got defeated."

"I see. I take it you won't be coming back to the desert with us, then," he stated.

"We can't, not yet," Zafirah said regretfully. "Me and Basam are the only ones that can help Kuei. He's got no one else."

"Hmm. It's odd, isn't it? A man born into such power, left with so few friends in the world," Sha-Mo mused. "I understand what you're saying. If there's anything we can do to help, just say it."

"Thanks, Sha-Mo," Basam said, bowing his head respectfully to his chieftain.

That night, they sat with their tribe for one last meal together. Once everyone had their food, Sha-Mo stood up and waved for silence. All eyes went to him as he strode over to Zafirah and her brother, who stood up. He stretched out a hand to each of them. Zafirah and Basam clasped hands with each other and their chieftain as he began to talk.

"I'm sad to say it, but fate must divide our tribe once again," he said solemnly. "Our brother and sister must part ways with us to search for their friend, who has no tribe to rely on, as we do. Please, join me in asking the Spirits to keep them safe on their journey." Zafirah felt a lump in her throat as the people of her tribe stood up and joined hands. Basam gave her fingers a tight squeeze and she squeezed back. They stood in peaceful quiet for a few minutes as the tribe sent their prayers to the Spirit World in silence.

The next morning, the twins packed up their things and headed out towards the road with Bosco, only to find their way blocked—the entire tribe stood in front of them. Jamila stepped out from the crowd with a sad smile.

"We all just wanted to say good luck to ya," she said, hurrying over to hug Zafirah.

"Thanks, Jamila," she said, giving the younger girl a tight hug. Suddenly, she remembered something that she'd been worrying about the night before. Pulling away from the hug, she looked down at the brown bear sitting patiently beside her, and then back at Jamila. "D'you think you could help us out with something?" Zafirah asked, feeling a little stab of guilt for what she was about to say.

"Sure, anything," Jamila replied.

"Could you keep an eye on Bosco for a while? Just till we find Kuei," she said.

"You're not takin' him with you? I mean, isn't he gonna want his pet back once you find 'im?" she asked, forehead wrinkling in a frown.

"We can't," Basam said, shaking his head. "We were talkin' about this last night."

"We gotta move as fast as we can," Zafirah said regretfully. "This isn't gonna be easy and I know Kuei'd want Bosco to be safe more than anythin'. So, how about it?"

"Of course! I'll take good care of him, promise," the younger girl said.

"Thank you," Zafirah said, relieved. _This isn't like when those Fire-freaks had Bosco during the eclipse,_ she told herself. _He'll be better off here than with us right now._

"We're gonna miss you all so much!" Basam said tearfully as he hugged Jamila too. "It's just not fair—we finally found you guys and now we have to leave the tribe again."

"Yeah, but you'll come back after you find your friend, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Right, yeah," Zafirah said, trying not to sound as uncertain as she felt. Jamila fell into step with them as they walked towards the rest of the tribe, who parted to let them through. Others popped out of the group to say their goodbyes—all their friends and relatives and people they'd grown up with. Then they were through the group, with only the empty road in front of them. Zafirah looked back, gazing over the faces of her tribe, and saw Bosco ambling towards them.

"You stay here, Bosco," said Basam, crouching down next to the bear and petting his head. Bosco whined in confusion. "Don't worry, Jamila's gonna make you feel right at home!"

Zafirah squatted down next to Basam and stroked the animal's thick fur. "Wait here for us, okay? We'll find him, don't you worry," she said as confidently as she could manage. The two of them stood up and watched as Bosco sadly went back to Jamila, who scratched behind his ears comfortingly. Zafirah's heart stung with sorrow as she turned away from their tribe, their family, and started down the road with her brother.

"How should we go about this, Zafi?" Basam asked, turning to her.

"I wish I knew," she replied. "We know they were headed east, so this woman is probably takin' him to Ba Sing Se. I guess we just go east, try to pick up their trail. You heard what the shopkeeper said about her animal—somethin' as weird as that, people are bound to remember seeing it passing by."

"Uh huh," Basam agreed. After a few more steps, he suddenly nudged her shoulder. "Hey, maybe we should find our own bounty hunter! I'm sure _someone'll_ know who this woman is."

"Sure, maybe. Let's just hope we can afford it," Zafirah replied grimly.

As they walked, they passed by a fancy-looking door with an elegantly dressed man standing out front.

"Would you care to hear your fortunes read?" he asked in a smooth voice.

"No thanks, I'm good," Basam replied. "Uh, thanks for offerin', though!"

"Hold on," Zafirah said, pausing midstep. She walked over to the man, fists on her hips. "You don't know where we could find a bounty hunter 'round here, do you?"

An hour later, they found the shady-looking tavern that the elegant man had pointed them towards—close enough to Makapu to be fairly convenient, but far enough away for the town to still look respectable. The two Sandbenders paused at the door, nodded to each other, and stepped inside. They'd barely gotten through the doorway before they had to duck to avoid a flying chair. It smashed on the wall next to the door.

"I like it already," Basam remarked, grinning.

"Yeah, just like home," Zafirah replied sardonically. She grabbed Basam's arm and they started weaving their way through the crowd. She wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for, so she hoped they'd know it when they saw it. Eventually, though, Zafirah got tired of walking around aimlessly; and besides, a few people were giving them weird looks. It didn't bother her too much, as she was used to the rough-and-tumble cantina back home, but she really wasn't in a brawling mood.

"Let's just go and ask the bartender, or something," Basam suggested, obviously thinking the same thing as her. She bobbed her head in agreement and they made their way over to the bar. The heavily-scarred man behind it eyed them appraisingly as they walked up and leaned against the battered wood counter.

"Can I help ya?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"Maybe," Zafirah said. "We need a bounty hunter. I know there's some here, so could you just tell us who they are?"

"Who says there's bounty hunters here?" the bartender rumbled.

"You really expectin' me to believe there's not?" Zafirah retorted.

"C'mon, mister, don't go playin' dumb," Basam added with a smirk. "Me and her, we're not exactly new to places like this," he added, gesturing to the pair of them.

The huge man eyeballed them again. "Supposing I did know of some bounty hunters around here," he said slowly. "What'd you be wanting 'em for?"

"Same thing everyone wants a bounty hunter for—we need to find someone," Basam said, crossing his arms.

"And why would this someone of yours need finding?" the bartender asked.

"I'm not goin' into all the little details, but he didn't do anythin' wrong, if that's what you mean," Basam replied.

"Our friend's gone missin' and we're gonna stay right here till you point us at someone who can help us find him," Zafirah added, jabbing a finger at the bartender.

He stared at her and then chortled heartily. "Okay, fine," he said, shaking his head. "Ain't no messing around with these two!"

"Just tell us what we need to know, all right?" Zafirah replied, narrowing her eyes.

"Sure, sure," the bartender said, wiping his eyes with the back of his meaty hand. "See that guy with the hook hand over there?"

"Uh, which one?" Basam asked dubiously.

"The guy with the bald head."

"That still doesn't narrow it down much," Basam pointed out.

"The one with the nose ring!"

Basam squinted off in the direction the bartender pointed. "Ah, okay, I see 'im now."

"That's Guozhi, he's your man," the bartender said.

"Thanks," Zafirah said with a short nod. They pushed their way in between the packed tables until they reached Guozhi, who glanced sideways at them with a baleful glare.

"Yeah?" he muttered, turning his attention back to his mug of ale.

"We need some information," Zafirah said.

"Information about a bounty hunter," Basam added.

"Hmm. And how much are you willing to pay for this here information?" Guozhi asked, sparing them another sideways look.

"That depends on how good the information is," Zafirah shot back.

"This bounty hunter we need to know about is a woman," Basam said. "Word has it she has dark hair, wears black clothes, and has some kinda monster that she rides around on with a poisonous whip-tongue—"

"Hold on just one second!" shouted a voice behind them. Zafirah and Basam turned to see a woman standing behind them. She looked to be about their own age, with chin-length black hair that stuck out messily from underneath a cloth cap. Her clothes were fantastically mismatched and there was a large sword strapped to her hip.

"Uh, hello," Basam said nervously. She ignored him and stepped closer to the two of them, turning her narrow-eyed stare on each of them in turn.

"A monster with a poisonous tongue, you say?" she asked.

"That's what we were told," Basam said.

"Well, I'll be damned," the woman said under her breath. "That's June you're looking for!" She grinned at them, gold-capped teeth flashing. "So tell me, what's that bounty-stealing wolfbat up to this time, hmm?"

"She took our friend," Basam explained.

"And we want him back," Zafirah added with a scowl.

"Is that so?" the woman said, still grinning. She stepped between them and clapped them both on the shoulders. "The name's Jingfei, and I'm exactly the lady you wanna be talking to right now. C'mon, let's go over here and have a chat."

Jingfei guided them over to a table in the corner, where she plopped down onto one of the rickety wooden chairs and shouted for a pot of tea from the bartender.

"I ain't yer servant, come and get it yerself!" the bartender yelled back. Jingfei heaved a sigh and strode over to the bar to get her teapot and three cups.

"Here, tea's on me," she announced, sliding cups over to the twins. They each reluctantly took one after glancing warily at each other. Once the bounty hunter had poured herself a cup and tasted it, she sat back in her chair and stared evenly at the twins. "Now, let's hear you tell me all about this little problem of yours."

"This woman—June, I guess, grabbed our friend from the town of Makapu," Zafirah began.

"Any idea why?" Jingfei asked.

Zafirah shared an uncertain look with Basam. "I'd rather not say," she decided.

"Fair enough, fair enough," Jingfei said. "And which way did they go?"

"East, most likely towards Ba Sing Se," Basam told her.

"Okay. And now for the big one: how much money you got?" The bounty hunter leaned forward eagerly.

"Not much," the twins said together.

"Damn, too bad," Jingfei muttered. Zafirah's heart sank, but then the woman gave another gold-toothed smile. "As it turns out, though, I'm in a generous mood right at this particular moment. See, that Spirits-be-damned June pissed me off but good a few months back—stole a big bounty right out from under me. And if there's one thing I'm real good at—besides bounty hunting, naturally—it's carrying a grudge. I'll do this one free, just to get back at that cheat!"

"Really? You'll do that?" Zafirah asked, torn between suspicion and a swell of hope.

"Yeah, sure! I never say nothing that I don't mean," Jingfei proclaimed with a grand sweep of her arm. "Not only will I get you your buddy back, but I'll track him down twice as fast as anyone else—if not faster!"

"That's exactly what we need," Basam remarked, sounding more than a little bit surprised. Zafirah glanced over at him and then grabbed his shoulder.

"Give us a moment, will ya?" she asked, turning to Jingfei.

"Sure, no problem. I'm not the one in a hurry," Jingfei joked, chortling at herself. Zafirah chose to ignore that as she tugged her brother over to the corner near the bar. The bartender was at the other end of it, chatting busily with a mountain of a man who looked like he was all hair and tattoos. Satisfied that no one was listening, she turned urgently to her twin.

"I know, I know—we have no idea who this woman is," he guessed. Zafirah nodded stiffly.

"Exactly. We don't know a single thing about this woman, except she hates June's guts for somethin' she did," Zafirah muttered. "But she says she's gonna help us for free—"

"And it's not like we got the money to hire anyone else," Basam finished. "Yeah, it ain't a good thing we're left with, here. But what else do we got?"

"Not much," Zafirah admitted. "So, do we trust her?"

"Well, we met plenty of bounty hunters back home," Basam pointed out. "Most of 'em take their job pretty seriously, remember?"

"True, leavin' aside the ones that lure you out in the middle of nowhere and cut your throat for your coin-pouch," Zafirah said darkly.

Basam nodded, his mouth twisting wryly. "Uh huh, aside from them. But, y'know, it's not like we got much for her to steal." Finally, they walked back to the table. Jingfei was still there, sipping her tea with her little finger extended like a regular noblewoman. She grinned at them.

"So, we good? We in business?" she asked.

"Sure," Zafirah said.

"Sure, we're in business," Basam agreed.

"Fantastic. Let's get going, then!" The bounty hunter flipped a few coins onto the table and ushered them out of the tavern. Jingfei took them around to the barn behind the tavern and flung open the doors, striding inside and leading them to a stall near the end. A loud snort echoed from inside it and something pawed at the high, wooden door.

"What d'you have in there?" Basam asked curiously.

"Oho, you'll see!" Jingfei said smugly. She unbolted the door, flung it open, and cried in a singsong voice, "Rei, mama's back!" A tall, brown-furred animal stood inside, its head bristling with long fangs and massive antlers. It growled and nuzzled her ear, making her laugh.

Zafirah gaped at it. "What in the…"

"This, dearies, is a saber-tooth mooselion," Jingfei said proudly, stroking the animal's snout. "I raised 'er from a cub all by my lonesome. Rei took a few bites outta me a time or two, but oh, was it worth it! You oughta see the looks on people's faces when I ride up on this beast."

"'S too bad Kuei's not here to see this," Basam murmured to Zafirah, smiling admiringly at the mooselion.

"Yeah," she agreed sadly. _We'll find him,_ she told herself firmly. She didn't like going along with this woman they'd just met, but it was better than trying to hunt down an experienced bounty hunter like June on their own. She had to believe that this would work; she'd already lost her parents, she'd very nearly lost her brother, and she wasn't about to let Kuei die, too.

The twins stood back to give Jingfei room as she got Rei saddled up and all of her supplies in place. Then she helped the two of them up into the saddle and swung up in front of them, turning Rei towards the stable door.

"Hold on tight, kids!" Jingfei yelled. She nudged Rei with her heels, snapped the reins, and off they rode.

* * *

In a little less than a week, the walls of Ba Sing Se appeared on the horizon. He could just glimpse it through the sparse forest that overlooked the city to the west. Under any other circumstances, Kuei might have been awed by the shirshu's boundless speed and stamina, but now he only resented it. Kuei felt a surge of dread as he spotted those gleaming white walls from his perch on June's saddle, not knowing what awaited him within.

As it turned out, his return to the city would be delayed a while longer. He couldn't help but be glad for that, even though his present situation wasn't any better than whatever would greet him inside the city. June halted her shirshu a couple hours' travel from the outer wall and set up camp. They were on the edge of the sparse forest, providing tree cover for June's little hideout.

"You don't mind waiting here a bit, do you, Your Highness?" June asked mockingly as she unloaded him from the saddle. "I've got some business to see to in the city."

"Of course, go right ahead," Kuei shot back icily. The latest dose of shirshu venom had worn off enough for him to speak, although he was still tied up well enough to make escape impossible. He worked his wrists futilely within their restraints, ignoring the twinges of pain as his sore shoulders and arms protested.

"Good, I'm _so _glad we see eye to eye," she replied in an overly sugary voice. Kuei supposed crossly that the imminent payoff in her future had put her in a good mood. She dragged him into the tent that she'd set up and then turned and left with a taunting wave. He heard her tell the shirshu to guard him and then she was gone.

* * *

June had no intention of walking all the way to the outer wall, even though she'd left Nyla to keep an eye on her bounty. Luckily, she spied a farmer heading towards the city along the main road—which she'd carefully avoided on her way thus far. The man riding the cart had been only too happy to give her a ride after hearing the sob story she'd cooked up.

As soon as she got to the Lower Ring, she ditched the farmer and took off for her destination: the seediest tavern she could find. Now that the Fire Nation had been kicked out, she'd have to find out who was in charge now—and if there was one thing she knew, it was that seedy taverns were the place to go for the most honest answers about what went on in a town.

It didn't take long to find a likely place, a shabby-looking establishment with an appropriately ominous name: The Burning Bridge. She pushed open the front door, heedless of the bits of cracked and peeling paint that stuck to her fingers, and strode into the tavern's dimly lit interior. After a quick glance around, she headed towards the bar at the back of the room. In a place like this, the bartenders were the gatekeepers of all the dirty secrets and juicy scraps of information that passed through their bars. The ones who knew what they were doing heard and saw everything. She took care not to walk too fast or too directly; it wouldn't do to look like she was on a mission. If anyone else figured out she was bringing in a bounty, she might have to fight for her reward. Not that she thought she'd lose or anything, but she'd hate to deal with the hassle of it. When she reached the bar, she slouched against it carelessly.

"I'll take a wheat beer," she said to the heavyset woman behind the bar. The bartender nodded silently and filled a tankard for her, sliding it to her. June dropped a coin onto the counter and picked up her drink.

"Long journey?" the bartender asked, eying June's dusty clothes.

"I've had worse," she replied. June took a long swig from her drink before getting down to business. "So, I hear those Fire freaks finally got driven out."

"Yeah, and about damned time, too!" roared the man sitting to her left. "Still don't know why we didn't run those bastards outta here the first week!"

"Sure," June replied dryly. "I bet that would've worked out just fine." Ignoring the tough guy next to her, she turned back to the bartender. "What's the story now that they're gone?"

"Not much to tell. You lookin' for work?" The grim sidelong look that the bartender gave her made June chuckle darkly. _No hiding anything from this one,_ she thought.

"Suppose that I am," she said. "Anyone you could recommend?"

"There's some folks in town you could talk to, sure. They used to be real powerful around here; word is they're headed back up in the world again now that the Fire Nation's out."

June sipped her wheat beer and slouched against the bar. "I'm listening."

* * *

Kuei gritted his teeth in frustration as he struggled uselessly with his ropes, as he'd been doing for the past couple of hours. The rough fibers dug into his wrists and ankles, but he paid no attention to the stinging—or to the ache in his limbs from having been tied up for so long. The shirshu lifted its head and turned its eyeless face towards him. If he hadn't known better, he could have sworn that the damned animal looked just as smug as its owner.

"Mind your own business," Kuei snapped at it, but then he sighed grimly. "I suppose I _am_ your business." Exhausted, he slumped back against the tree trunk that June had left him propped up against. Something jabbed against his already sore wrists, making him wince. Then, fueled by a surge of renewed energy, he twisted his hands around to get a better feel of the object. It was a stick, he realized, thick and pointy at one end with thorn-like bits sticking out from it. An idea struck him and he maneuvered the stick between his bound hands, heedless of the thorns pricking his palms and fingers. Wriggling around so that he was lying on his side, he bent his knees to pull his feet up behind him and pushed the end of the stick into the ropes around his ankles. He dragged the stick back and forth like a saw until his hands cramped from the effort.

After a couple more hours of alternately working and resting, he looked up sharply at the sound of footsteps crunching on the dirt nearby. He dropped the stick when he saw June striding towards him with an unsettlingly self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Welcome home, Your Highness," she said in a sing-song tone. "Guess what? I've got some of your buddies waiting for you back in the city. Wouldn't want to keep 'em waiting, now, would we?" He felt his blood run cold as he realized what was happening: she'd found her highest bidder. "C'mon, let's go, your subjects await you."

Kuei just lifted his chin and glared at her, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of seeing him panic or beg. June whistled to herself as she hauled him up off the ground, clearly in a good mood at the prospect of a payoff. She quickly gagged him, flung him over the saddle and covered him with a cloth tarp before leaping up into the saddle. The shirshu lurched up from the ground and took off at a lope towards the city. Kuei clenched and flexed his fists as the animal ran, still pulling against his ropes with all his strength and wishing fervently that he'd kept hold of that stick. _June probably would have seen it and taken it away, anyway,_ he thought. He shifted his feet again in frustration and all of a sudden, he felt something give. The ropes had loosened! Pulse pounding with abruptly renewed hope, he paused to make sure June hadn't noticed him shifting around. If she had, she gave no hint of it.

They reached the city quickly. Kuei couldn't see the Outer Wall itself with the tarp covering him, but he could see the ground below them darken as they passed into its shadow. He listened for the sounds of activity all around them—the creaking of cartwheels, the chatter of male and female voices, the noises of animals— and then realized that with the gag in his mouth, it wouldn't even matter. He didn't hear a single noise, though; the road was quiet aside from the shirshu's shuffling footfalls and June's cheerful whistling. June reined in the shirshu after a while, bringing the animal to a halt. By twisting his head around, Kuei could just barely see the stones at the base of the Outer Wall from beneath the tarp.

"Are you June?" asked a deep, male voice from somewhere ahead of the shirshu.

"I certainly am," June replied. "And you must be the guy whose name I'm not allowed to know," she added dryly.

"That's right. Follow me," said the man. The shirshu started walking again at June's urging, darkness falling over them as they passed through a tunnel in the Outer Wall. Kuei heard the tunnel close with a low rumble behind them as they emerged into daylight on the other side of the massive wall. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, gathering his courage and waiting for the right moment to seize his last chance at freedom. It had little chance of working, he knew that. There was no way he could outrun the shirshu and his hands were still bound behind his back, which would make things difficult. Even so, he had to at least try. He'd be damned if he'd let them take him down quietly!

They trudged through the rural outlying area beyond the Wall for about an hour, by Kuei's guess. All he could do was watch the tall grass swaying around the shirshu's clawed feet as it walked. Finally, they came to a halt; Kuei couldn't see where they were, of course, but he heard the hollow thunk of knuckles rapping on a wooden door, followed by the creak of the door swinging open.

"This is the bounty hunter?" asked another male voice.

"That's me," June said. "Let's get this over with." She dismounted, her boot-clad feet appearing in Kuei's view as she dropped to the ground. As she reached up to whip off the cloth tarp, he drew a deep breath—this was it! The tarp flew off of him with a rustle, the sudden sunlight blinding him as he took his chance. With a sharp kick, the shredded ropes around his ankles snapped and he wrenched his body hard to the side. He rolled, slid down the shirshu's hindquarters and tail, and hit the dirt hard. His pulse thumped as he rolled again and scrambled to his feet, the last scraps of rope falling away as he bolted away through the tall grass. "Hey!" June hollered, infuriated.

Kuei vaguely heard one of the men berating her for not tying him up better as he sprinted off, but he didn't pay them any mind. He was too busy being grateful for the physical training he'd gotten over the last few months, to be able to run like this! At any moment, though, the shirshu would catch up with him and recapture him. And yet, he didn't hear the animal's heavy footfalls behind him…

He had only a second to realize that he wasn't being followed before the ground opened up beneath him. With a shocked yell, he tumbled down into darkness belowground. The yell turned into an agonized howl as he hit the ground legs first and a jolt of pain went through his left leg. The impact knocked the breath out of him, leaving him dazed. Then a voice spoke up somewhere in the darkness nearby—a horrible, familiar voice that brought him back to his senses.

"You didn't really think that would work, did you? That was truly foolish, even for you," the smooth, deep voice said. Kuei lifted his head and glanced frantically around what he now saw was a narrow tunnel, searching for the source of the voice. He spotted the man a few feet away; he was half in shadow as he stood at the edge of the pool of light streaming down from the hole overhead, but there was no mistaking him. Nor was there any mistaking the green and black uniforms of the men behind him.

"Spirits be damned… no…" Kuei groaned hoarsely.

"You ought to have stayed away, Kuei. You shouldn't have returned," Long Feng said gravely. Then, to his agents, he said, "Bind him, take him away." The Dai Li agents approached Kuei, staring dispassionately down at him as they bound his limbs in stone. He didn't bother begging or trying to reason with them. Instead, he stayed silent as they slipped a cloth sack over his head. He succumbed to the pain in his leg, blacking out.

When he came back to consciousness, Kuei was still underground. He knew that he had to be, because the cloth sack had been removed from his head and he recognized the stone passageway that the agents were carrying him through. The Council of Five had opened up the secret entrance to the prison beneath Lake Laogai shortly before the coup; he had toured this very tunnel with his generals mere months ago. It seemed that the Dai Li had restored the place.

They brought him to a cell in the furthest corner of the prison. A deep sense of horror and misery overcame Kuei as they swung open the heavy door and tossed him in. The iron door slammed shut with a resonating clang and its locks clunked into place, sealing Kuei into the dank blackness of the prison cell.


	26. Chapter 22

**09/30/13: This chapter has been edited! Check it out, new and improved. Chapter 23 will be posted later today!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 22— THE HUNT**

Long Feng pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh as he returned from Lake Laogai. He glanced at the six Dai Li agents that walked on either side of him—six of his supposedly most loyal and trustworthy men. Now that they had the former king in their grasp and his plans had been set in motion, of course, only time would show the truth of that loyalty. He'd seen the truth of their nature before, and Long Feng hadn't gotten as far as he had by making the same mistakes twice.

He would have to be careful now, more than ever before. This was an even more delicate matter than the coup with Princess Azula had been. The government—the city as a whole—was unstable in the wake of the Fire Nation's sudden defeat. The slightest disturbance could thrust their city into chaos. _I am the only one who can bring order, who can sculpt Ba Sing Se into what it is meant to be,_ Long Feng thought sternly to himself. _I did it during the war… It was nearly perfect, until the Avatar came along and disrupted my plans. I can certainly do it again this time. Ba Sing Se will be at the forefront of this shifting world, I will guarantee it. That is the city's destiny… that is my destiny._

The seven men walked in silence until they reached the secret entrance to the palace grounds. Once inside, the agents followed Long Feng to the door of his study, where they halted and awaited their next command.

"Agent Jianjun, follow me. The rest of you are dismissed," Long Feng said, not taking his eyes off the door in front of him. He heard five of the agents move away, their whispering footfalls almost inaudible. Jianjun stood as a wordless, stone-like presence behind him. Long Feng stepped into the study, the Dai Li agent following him.

"There is much to be done," Long Feng said.

"Yes, sir," Jianjun said.

"We will have to contact the Avatar, of course, and feed the boy the right set of lies," he went on, more to himself than to the agent. "He cannot know what is happening here. We'll also have to find a suitable candidate to sit on the throne in Kuei's place after he's… gone." Long Feng cursed himself for that slight hesitation in front of his subordinate. As much as he couldn't stand Kuei, it still galled him somewhat to have to execute the former king that he had raised from childhood. There was some sort of sentimentality there that he couldn't quite shake. There were many things that others might have said about Long Feng, but he preferred to think that "brutal murderer" wasn't one of them. He had never relished the idea of killing people, no matter how much the circumstances demanded it at times. Incidents like the one with the brainwashed rebel boy before the coup were regrettable, but necessary. He just had to remind himself that this one was necessary, too.

"When do you want Fifty-Two to be executed?" Jianjun asked, his tone as flat as ever.

"Hm. Why don't we wait a while? We may need him yet, if the Avatar doesn't accept what we tell him," Long Feng said.

"That may give us a problem, sir," Jianjun stated. "The blind Earthbender child—"

"Can detect lies. Yes, I'm aware of that." The boy Avatar was bound to have that damned little Earthbender with him, as the brat never went anywhere without his entourage of child warriors, which brought him to the most challenging part of his plan. "Well, if we can't convince the boy of our falsehoods, then we'll just have to convince ourselves instead."

"Sir?" For a second, a hint of doubt crept into Jianjun's stoic voice.

"At sunrise tomorrow morning, we're going back to Lake Laogai," Long Feng said. Yes, this was when the loyalty of his subordinates would truly be put to the test.

* * *

Kuei flung himself against the iron door, a harsh yell tearing from his throat. His shoulder struck the door with an echoing thud and he fell back. His sides and shoulders were already aching from straining against the door, and his leg—splinted up by a guard shortly after his imprisonment—pained him immensely. He slumped to the ground, panting. The Dai Li agent on guard duty out in the corridor banged on the door.

"Forget it!" he yelled. "You're not getting out of there unless Long Feng allows it, you fool."

"Spirits take you! I wasn't asking for your opinion!" Kuei shouted back, slamming his fist into the door and immediately regretting it. He leaned back on the door and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the stinging in his knuckles to subside. The icy cold of the iron seeped through his shirt and into his skin, adding to the chill that was already in the air. Taking a deep breath, he painstakingly climbed to his feet and started running his hands over the door, searching for something—a weak hinge, a loose bar on the tiny window in the door, anything at all—that could give him some hope of escape. He shuffled sideways, careful not to put too much weight on his leg, sliding his hands over the rough stone walls.

There were no windows to the outside world, obviously; the only light in the cell came from four glowing green crystals, one mounted on each wall, as well as a little bit more green light through the small, barred window in the door. These things didn't even provide enough light to see into the corners of the cell. The crystals' sickly green glow just allowed him to see parts of the walls and door; they certainly didn't let him see where that aggravating sound of dripping water was coming from. Without his glasses, his vision was a little blurry, giving the dimly lit cell a hazy, dreamlike look. If only it _was_ a dream.

He peered through the window in the door, trying to see the guard. There was only one, which was good. _Surely someone will find out what's going on here,_ he told himself. _Surely, someone will know that Long Feng is up to no good. Maybe—maybe the Avatar will come back. The war is over, so… so he'll have to return soon, certainly. There have to be… negotiations, yes! Negotiations with the Fire Nation regarding… the colonies, the military bases on our land. The Avatar will come back, he'll find Long Feng in control of things, he and his friends will let me out of here and help me put a stop to this. They must. _He sank to the damp floor, putting his face in his hands. _They have to find me here…_

* * *

"Gotta love this weather, huh?" Jingfei said happily. She twisted around to grin at Zafirah, who was sitting between her and Basam on Rei's saddle.

"Uh, sure," Zafirah agreed distractedly. It _was_ a nice day—the sun was shining, but the heat wasn't brutal like it was in the desert. They were working their way across an endless expanse of grasslands, where the grass had gotten nearly tall enough to brush Rei's belly. The stalks crunched softly under the mooselion's paws. There was a bit of wind that day, just enough that Basam had switched seats with her because, as he'd said, he didn't enjoy being smacked in the face with her braid. She just couldn't shake this feeling of discomfort, and it didn't have anything to do with being crammed on a saddle with two other people.

They'd been on the move for a couple days now, with Jingfei and her mooselion Rei supposedly following June's trail. Zafirah and Basam hadn't tracked anything other than animals back in the desert, so they didn't really have much of a choice but to take Jingfei's word that the trail was there—and it was against their better judgment, too. They hadn't had many options for picking a bounty hunter to help them find Kuei, so all they could do was hope and pray to the Spirits they'd picked the right one. Most bounty hunters would've flat-out refused to even budge one finger without some coin for their effort. But this business about Jingfei helping them for free, claiming that revenge on June would be all the payment she needed… it didn't sit well with the world as Zafirah knew it. Or maybe it just didn't fit with the world she'd known back at the Oasis, which was a much different place than the world she knew now—a world she never would've seen without Kuei… She winced as she clenched her fists, pushing back her anxiousness; she'd pressed little crescent-moon-shaped dents into her palms from all the times she'd done it already.

"So, how's that trail?" Basam asked awkwardly. "Still, uh… there?"

"Oh, yeah, Rei's got it handled," Jingfei replied with a cocky wave of the hand that wasn't holding the mooselion's reins. "Shirshus aren't the only animals with good noses, ya know!"

"Uh… sure." Zafirah found herself at a loss for anything else to say. Every instinct of her Si Wong upbringing still screamed her that she and her brother were doing a damned stupid thing, riding off with this bounty hunter they'd just met with nothing to go on but her word that she was actually of any use to them. She was doing her best not to get her hopes up that this scheme of theirs would actually work; it was damned hard, though. _I blame Kuei_. _Him and his sunny disposition. He's been a bad influence on me, _she thought with a dry, rueful smile.

But they were pretty much out of any other choices; they had to find Kuei, and fast. No matter who was behind this—if it was that Long Feng bastard that he'd told them about, or the Fire Nation, or some other enemy none of them knew yet—she knew that Kuei might not have much time left… or he might not have any left at all.

"So, how long you two been out of the desert?" Jingfei asked as they rode along.

"Just since early summer," Zafirah replied.

"Heh, then you got out just in time, am I right? I been in the Si Wong during the summertime before. Spent three weeks stinkin' like a sun-cooked goatpig," the bounty hunter grumbled, grimacing.

"Yeah, it's not the nicest-smelling place in the summer," Basam remarked, although there was a definite kind of wistfulness in his voice.

"I heard some chatter about some kinda big showdown that happened out in the deep desert a few months back," Jingfei added. She rubbed her chin as she recalled it. "Something about a whole lotta Sandbenders going up against flying Fire Nation boats. You two involved in that?"

Zafirah grinned fiercely. "Uh huh, we were there."

"This friend of ours we're lookin' for, he was there too," Basam added, voice brimming with pride. "Fought right next to us the whole time!"

Jingfei whistled. "No kidding! Guess he's not the useless rich jerk type, huh?"

"No. Definitely not useless," Zafirah agreed.

"I always said it wasn't a good idea to underestimate the desert folks," Jingfei commented, chuckling. "And look at all you—shakin' up the Fire Nation! Hah."

"Yeah, well, someone had to take 'em down a peg," Basam said, waving his hand loftily. Then he added regretfully, "It was pretty amazing. Just too bad the rest of our tribe wasn't around to join in."

Zafirah smiled thinly and said, "Hey now, those wouldn't have been very fair odds."

"Well, that's somethin' the Fire Nation would know all about, am I right?" Basam replied lightly. "Maybe they took 'em all out to even the odds a bit." She barked out a sharp laugh at that, shaking her head.

The saber-toothed mooselion prowled along for hours without stopping, its nose to the ground. It changed its course a few times, but it always headed east. When the sun set, Jingfei reined in her mount and swung out of the saddle, leaped to the ground with a solid _thud_, and stretched her arms over her head.

"Whew! What a day," she said, tilting her head and popping her neck. Then she turned to look at them and made a shooing gesture. "Hey, how's about you two go and get me some firewood, huh? Tonight, I'm cookin'! I like doing that stuff. You two can take a turn tomorrow, or something."

"All right, we can do that," Basam said, shrugging at Zafirah. She motioned to her brother and they ventured off into the tall grass that surrounded them. "So, what do we think about this Jingfei lady?" he asked her once they were out of earshot.

"So far, so good," Zafirah commented. "I mean… I dunno. Everything I know about bounty hunters from back home says they never work for free—they gotta be wantin' something for themselves outta the deal. But, y'know, I thought the same thing about Kuei one time, didn't I?" she remembered. "Told myself, there's no way this fancy guy from Ba Sing Se could ever help Sandbenders like us without expectin' something in return. We got the weirdest tourist in the world, why not the weirdest bounty hunter, too?" She snorted at the strange amount of sense that'd make, given all the unexpected ways their lives had been going the past several months.

"Heh, good point," Basam said with a chuckle. "So, we keep on goin' with it?"

"I don't see many other choices," she sighed. "It just feels weird, leavin' something this important to somebody we hardly know at all."

"You got a point, there," Basam agreed. "So, let's get to know her a little! Do some diggin', find out what we got here."

"Uh huh, we can try… We gotta be careful about it, though," Zafirah muttered.

"Well, sure, but how careful d'you wanna be?" Basam asked dubiously. "No other way to get at who she really is, other than asking."

"True, but we can't take the risk of makin' her mad. We pry too much, could be she gets it into her head we're more trouble than we're worth," Zafirah pointed out. "We've both seen this kind of thing take a turn for the, uh, very bloody side." She found herself recalling a few times, back home at the Oasis, where foreigners had come in to make a deal with one of the many bounty hunters that hung around; it happened often, and it didn't usually end in spilled blood, unless the foreigner happened to be thick-headed enough to try and trick the bounty hunter they'd picked.

"Or, if she doesn't like it, maybe she just tells us to quit prying and keep our noses outta her personal matters," Basam said, frowning. "You just said it was going good so far."

"Yeah, _so far_," Zafirah said pointedly. "Her helpin' us doesn't change the fact that she's a bounty hunter."

"Hey, hold it, this is someone stickin' her neck out for us, for free! And about the bounty hunter part of it… Lots of folks say that about us Sandbenders, remember?" Basam told her, his voice rising in agitation.

Zafirah's mouth opened wordlessly for a moment, caught off guard. "That's—that's different," she sputtered uncomfortably. "_We're_ different."

"Listen, we—" Basam shook his head, glancing back the way they'd come. "We can't stand here chatting all night long. Are we gonna try this, or not?" There was a rare edge of annoyance in his voice.

Zafirah chewed her lip, then sighed. "Might as well," she decided. "Let's just tread light, okay?" They gathered up as many dry sticks as they could find from the shrubs that dotted the tall grass around them, and hurried back to Jingfei.

"Wow, not much to work with there," Jingfei remarked, eying the sticks in their arms as they walked up to her.

"There's not exactly a whole lotta trees around here," Zafirah pointed out.

The bounty hunter shrugged and said, "Okay, whatever. You mind getting a fire started while I finish with fixin' up these vegetables?"

"No problem," Basam said. As he and Zafirah got the fire going, they glanced at each other and nodded slightly. Once they had a pot of water set up over the fire, they turned to Jingfei.

"So, Jingfei," Zafirah started casually, "How long you been bounty huntin'?"

"I dunno, a long time, I guess." She dug a sack of vegetables out of their supplies and peered into it, checking out its contents.

"Family business, or…?" Basam prompted.

"Nah, my parents made shoes." She looked up from the beets she had started slicing and narrowed her eyes at them. "Say, what's with all the questions, anyway?" Zafirah swore inwardly. _That didn't take long,_ she thought grimly.

"Oh, uh, no reason," Basam assured her hastily. "We were just curious, is all."

"Well, this ain't storytelling time with the village elders," Jingfei shot back. Zafirah heaved an irritated sigh and squatted down across from Jingfei. They'd have to try another strategy, and her brother had always been better at diplomacy than she was.

"Okay, listen," she said, "You're not the first bounty hunter we've met, so don't go thinkin' you can push us around like your other customers. We grew up in the Misty Palms Oasis and I'll eat my foot bindings if haven't been there more than just the one time."

Jingfei eyed her appraisingly. "Yeah, I've been there a few more times than just what I said," she admitted warily.

"Uh huh, so you know what I'm getting' at. Now, goin' by your accent, I'd mark you as being from… Omashu, am I right?" Zafirah asked. Jingfei's eyes widened.

"H-how'd ya guess that?" she asked.

"You'd be surprised, all the things you can learn 'bout people by the way they talk." Zafirah looked into the fire reflectively, remembering the last time she'd pulled her accent-reading trick on someone. Basam came over and crouched next to Zafirah, putting his hand on her back.

"Listen, Jingfei, all we want is to find our friend," he said quietly. "And we wanna know who it is that's gonna help us do it. This is big—this is really important to us."

Jingfei threw her hands up. "Ugh, fine! Yeah, I'm from Omashu. Grew up on the streets there. Got into bounty huntin' 'cuz I had nothin' else to do and I turned out to be good at findin' folks. Any other questions?" Jingfei growled.

"Nope, nothing's comin' to mind!" Basam said lightly. When she shot him a glare, he looked down sheepishly. "Uh, sorry for bringin' up a sore spot."

"Let's just take it easy with the prying from now on, 'kay?" Jingfei told them. "But while we're here, mind if I ask a few of my own? Fair's fair, right?"

Zafirah looked uneasily at her brother. "Uh, I guess so," she said.

"All right, here goes: this friend of yours… honestly, what's his story? What'd he do to get grabbed by June?" the bounty hunter asked.

Zafirah scowled, bristling. "Does it matter?" she retorted.

"Uh, yeah, kinda! I offered myself up to help you two, no coinage asked for, I got a right to know what I've gotten myself into," Jingfei insisted.

"He's no criminal, if that's what you're suggesting," Zafirah growled. There was no way she and Basam were going to tell this woman who Kuei really was. He'd already gotten scooped up by one bounty hunter looking to claim the prize on his head; the last thing they needed was another one getting the same idea. The sound of bubbling water from the fire pit caught Jingfei's ear and she looked over towards the pot.

"Fine, let's put the questions aside for now," she grumbled. "I wanna finish up getting dinner ready, so I can eat it. I'm too hungry for this nonsense."

Zafirah shot a dubious look at Basam, and from his raised eyebrows she could tell he was thinking the same as her: _That didn't go as well as it could have…_

* * *

It was a calm, clear night, with the beginnings of an autumn chill in the air. If Zafirah had been looking up, she would've seen just about every star in the sky as clear as crystal. Zafirah didn't care, though; she was pacing restlessly outside her tent, Bending little crests and pits in the dirt at her feet as her thoughts buzzed frantically like a buzzard-wasp swarm. A hand on her arm jolted her out from the depths of the whirlwind. She swore and spun around to see Basam, just back from bathing in the nearby stream.

"Zafi? You're pacin' around like a beetle in a box," he said, his voice gentle. "Tell me what you're thinkin'."

She sighed harshly and pressed the heels of her hands against her forehead. "If I could just know where he is, if he's… What if he's not in Ba Sing Se? If we're goin' the wrong way, by the time we find out it might be—or what if he is there and he's already—" She broke off, squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth.

"Hey, hey. Take a breath," he said quietly, gripping her shoulders.

"I can't—I just… I hate feeling helpless like this!" she exclaimed. "I know there's not a lot we can do—I know we're already doin' the only thing we _can_ do—but it's just takin' too damned long!"

Basam let out a harsh breath and held her onto her firmly. "Look, we're gonna get to Ba Sing Se as soon as we can," he told her. "Whatever happens when we get there—well, it'll just happen. Might be good, might be bad. All we can do is try our best to make sure it comes out right. But you doin' this to yourself, it's not gonna help any."

"It's not like a candle, I can't just decide I'm not gonna worry anymore," Zafirah replied, scowling.

"I didn't say you had to stop worryin'. I just said it's not much help at all," Basam retorted. "You're gonna make yourself sick, going out of your mind like this."

"So what _would_ be helpful, huh, Basam?" Zafirah shot back, throwing up her hands. "Just pretendin' like there's no danger to somebody we care about?"

Basam stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, first things first, ya might start by keepin' in mind that you're not the only one here who's lost folks they loved," he growled. "_Especially_ not this summer. They're my tribe, too." The words stopped her cold, a jolt of guilt tearing through her. She looked away, her eyes turned to the ground. Basam went on, saying, "I know how much you're hurtin', Zafi, but you can't lose your head!"

She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. "I just don't wanna lose anyone else," she murmured.

"I know… I know," Basam said wearily. "You goin' to sleep?"

"Nah, not yet. I think I'm gonna sit out here a little bit longer," Zafirah sighed. She went over to the dying fire and sat next to it, poking the embers with a twig and staring into their soft, red glow. Behind her, she heard Basam's footsteps slowly move away from her. She lifted her head and looked out across the low hills of the grassland they'd been traveling through after leaving the forest surrounding Makapu. The tall grass rustled faintly in the breeze, and under the moon it almost looked like fur on some huge animal. After a while, she heard the slight crunch of boots on grass and dirt ahead of her. She looked up and spotted Jingfei, with Rei walking behind her. Jingfei looked dusty and windblown, with her hair sticking out from under her cap even more messily than usual.

"Where'd you go off to?" Zafirah asked, raising an eyebrow. The bounty hunter had disappeared after helping them clean up from dinner.

"Oh, Rei and me just went for a little ride," she said happily, plopping down across the fire from Zafirah. She let out a puff of air and tilted her head back, grinning upside-down at her mooselion. Rei let out a low, rumbling murmur and snuffled the top of the bounty hunter's head.

"A ride? Rei's been walkin' all day; she's not tired?" Zafirah asked, surprised. Rei snorted, like she'd understood and been offended by Zafirah's doubts.

"Nah, my girl here loves going for runs at night. Helps her sleep, y'see. You oughta come with us next time, it's nice," she added with an oddly lingering glance at Zafirah. The bounty hunter pulled off her boots and stretched her legs out in front of her, then leaned back on her hands, warming her toes by the embers. Jingfei sighed and gave her a relaxed smile. "What's keeping you out here at this hour, my sandy lil' buddy?"

"Just thinkin' about stuff," Zafirah said guardedly. She still didn't know what this bounty hunter's story was, and she certainly didn't know how far she could trust her. It really was like when she'd first met Kuei: she couldn't figure out how this new person in her life did things—she didn't get how her mind worked—and it bothered her. Jingfei was another unsolved riddle. And even if they trusted her to get them to Kuei… could they trust her with his real identity?

"Thinking about your friend?" Jingfei guessed, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Hmmm, I see." Jingfei tapped her fingers against the ground and sent another sidelong glance at Zafirah. "So!" she exclaimed after a moment's silence, her sudden loudness making Zafirah jump. "This friend of yours we're rescuin' from certain doom…"

"Yeah?" she said again, her guard rising. She hurried to think up a story she could spin about Kuei.

"This friend of yours—your friend who's a man… I'm thinkin' he ain't just a friend, am I right?" she asked, a little too casually.

Zafirah blinked owlishly in surprise. "Wait, what?" she asked blankly.

"I seen the way your eyes get when you talk about 'im."

"Well, uh… okay, you got me on that one," Zafirah admitted, sagging backwards with relief. She assured herself that this particular secret wasn't nearly enough for anyone to guess who he was, no matter how good of a bounty hunter they claimed to be.

"And you really like 'im, huh?" Jingfei prompted.

"Mmhm, I guess I do," she said. She couldn't help but smile wistfully.

"Damn, too bad," Jingfei grumbled. "Ain't that just my luck…"

"...Oh. Uh." Zafirah's cheeks went a little red when she realized what Jingfei meant. "Uh, sorry. I hear there's plenty of pretty girls in Ba Sing Se, though. There's a song 'bout it and everything."

Jingfei gave her a look of wounded dignity. "Please. I don't got problems findin' me some love."

Seeing her chance to try another question or two, Zafirah waited a moment and then spoke up again. "So, you do a lot of jobs for free?" she asked, keeping her voice as light as she could manage.

Jingfei shrugged. "Nah, not a whole lot. Just when I'm feeling 'specially nice," she said, waggling her eyebrows at her.

"Or when you got a score to settle?" Zafirah suggested.

Surprisingly, the bounty hunter didn't come back with a joke or a flirty remark. Instead, her jaw tensed—but her eyes held the quickest flash of sadness, not anger. It was gone as soon as it appeared, pushed down with careful practice, but Zafirah knew that heavy-eyed stare. "Yeah. When I got a score to settle," she echoed, her forehead furrowing.

Then she shook her head a little and jerked her head up to smile at Zafirah. "Got a lil' something for ya," she said with cheerfulness that was just a little too intense to be real. She leaned to the side and dug something out of her pocket. She held it out to Zafirah; in the faint light from the dying fire, she saw it was a clump of tan fur. "See this, here?"

"Yeah. What's it from?" Zafirah asked, puzzled.

Jingfei grinned. "It's from… a shirshu!" she proclaimed dramatically, lifting it up high.

Zafirah tried to push back the sudden surge of hope she felt. "You sure 'bout that?" Zafirah asked, squinting at the clump.

"Yeah, 'course I'm sure! I know my beasties," Jingfei said proudly. "This here came off a shirshu's furry hide."

"June's shirshu?" Zafirah asked eagerly, sitting forward and grabbing the fur from Jingfei. Hope flared up brightly inside her, overflowing her suspicion and blocking everything else right out with its sudden glow.

"Must be. The wild ones don't come down this far south, most times."

"Where did you find it?" She handled the fur with eager hands, like it could point the way to Kuei all on its own.

"Just a little bit ahead on the trail when me and Rei was riding just now," Jingfei said with an offhanded shrug. "Looks like you and your brother was right, June's headin' east."

"Yes!" Zafirah exclaimed. Basam stumbled out of the tent to her right, looking bewildered behind a curtain of messy hair.

"Wha's happenin'? What're you yellin' 'bout?" he mumbled sleepily. His voice was stuck somewhere between confused and worried.

"Jingfei found shirshu fur!" Zafirah told him happily, jumping to her feet. Basam gave her a wide grin.

"Hey, that's great!" he said. "So we're on the right trail?"

"Yeah," Zafirah agreed. She clenched the fur in her fist, feeling her spirits lift. "We're on the right trail." Soon after that, she crawled into the tent that she and Basam were sharing and slid into her sleeping bag. She still didn't feel all that sleepy, but she knew she needed to rest—and besides, the sooner they all went to bed, the sooner they could wake up and get on the move again.

* * *

How many times had he searched this cell for a way out? How often had he blindly run his hands across the barely-visible walls? He'd already lost count. All he knew was that his palms and knuckles were aching and sticky with blood from being scraped against the rough stone over and over again. But he tried once more though. First the door, wincing as sore skin brushed against cold iron. He felt the thick metal of the door itself, then the hinges, then the flap at the bottom where they slid his meal trays in. Nothing, as usual. Next he tried the left-hand wall, then the right-hand one, and then the back wall. The one area he hadn't searched was the ceiling, as it was just out of reach and there was nothing to stand on; and with his injured leg, he didn't dare try to jump for it. The thought that there might be something up there—a ventilation grate, perhaps—gnawed at the back of his mind. He could barely see the ceiling in the dim light as a smooth expanse of stone with no distinct features, but it was also just dark enough to let that tantalizing possibility linger. He strained to reach it once again, but his fingers touched only empty air.

He slumped down onto the floor with a groan. Aang and his friends had told him all about this place; if a ten-ton, magical Sky Bison couldn't manage to escape from it, then how could a mere human hope to do it? He didn't even have any Bending powers to assist himself.

_This isn't over,_ he told himself. _Stop thinking like that! I have to get back to my friends, to Bosco! I'm still alive, at least. I just need to be patient. I just need to wait for my chance…_

* * *

_Two days later…_

Zafirah knew there was a problem when the mooselion stopped walking all of a sudden and lifted its nose up off the ground. She took a quick look around, trying to figure out what had just happened. The trail they'd been cutting across the grasslands had just joined up with a wide, beaten dirt road that wound its way through the grass, which was much shorter here.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, apprehensive.

"Trail's gone cold," Jingfei muttered.

"What?!" Zafirah and Basam exclaimed together.

"Gone cold? Just like that?" Basam asked, stunned. "Where'd it go?"

"I don't care where it went, all I wanna know is how you're gonna find it again!" Zafirah added, scowling. The bounty hunter seemed to ignore her, looking around the area instead of answering.

"I think we'll make a little stop here," Jingfei announced, sticking a hand out and pointing ahead. Basam peered around her and Zafirah peered around him to see where they were; the bounty hunter was pointing at a tiny village ahead of them, set a little ways off the road. With just a few wooden shacks and huts scattered around, it was barely bigger than the Misty Palms Oasis.

"Uh, you sure?" Basam asked skeptically. "Not that I'm tryin' to tell you how to do your job or anythin'…"

"Yep! This one, definitely." Jingfei nodded confidently. She got Rei walking again and as they came up closer to the village, Zafirah figured out why she wanted to go there so badly.

"I think I get it," she said. "Tiny little place, tucked outta the way, not many visitors—"

"Oh, right, just like back home!" Basam agreed, catching on. "No one's gonna come lookin' here, which means—"

"Good place for a person who wants to avoid getting' noticed to pick up some supplies," Zafirah finished. They'd had plenty of bounty hunters pass through the oasis for that same reason.

Jingfei giggled. "I love the way you two think. Mainly because you think like _me_!" she said. As they rode into the village, Zafirah felt a pang in her stomach, remembering the way the oasis had been before the Fire Nation raid. It had felt just like this place—a tiny band of families, friends and neighbors scraping out a living together. Guilt tugged at her heart as she thought about their tribe, just freed from their prison and on their way home to a desert that wouldn't ever be the same as it had been before. The war had finally reached the desert, and she had no way of knowing what those battles had really done to their home. They'd left their tribe to go after Kuei—left them to go and face their changed desert without her and her brother.

_It's too late to go back,_ she thought firmly. _Focus on this task first. Kuei needs us more than our tribe right now. At least they all got each other. He's got no one else but us._ While she'd been lost in her thoughts, Jingfei had already picked out someone to talk to.

"Hey, you! Yeah, you, the lady with the cabbages," she called, gesturing at a young woman walking along with a basket of vegetables in her arms.

The woman looked up, startled. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked, eyes wide in confusion. Jingfei aimed a winsome smile down at her as she halted Rei beside her.

"Yeah, that's right. You mind if we ask ya a couple easy little questions? Don't worry, honey, we ain't bad, we're just passin' on through," Jingfei said pleasantly. Zafirah turned and raised her eyebrows at Basam, surprised by the bounty hunter's sudden sense of diplomacy. Then again, maybe not too surprised; the young woman was fairly pretty, after all. The woman smiled timidly and edged closer to them.

"What a magnificent animal," she said, looking at Rei. "What is it?"

"That, my friend, is a saber-tooth mooselion. And speaking of animals, we're looking for a lady in black that rides a big animal—kinda like mine, only hers ain't as beauteous as this one! Hers got a long nose and a tongue like a whip, and it got no eyes. Got some long fur, too, and a fluffy tail. She was headed this way, last I heard. I don't suppose you've seen nothing like that come through here?" Jingfei asked sweetly.

"Why, no, I can't say that I have! I'm sure I'd remember if someone like that had been here!" the woman said breathlessly.

"Aw, too bad. Well, thanks anyway. Enjoy them cabbages!" Jingfei smiled at the woman one more time and then nudged Rei into a walk again.

"Maybe she was busy that day," Basam said uneasily. Zafirah knew why he was worried—this was the first village they'd seen in a week. If June hadn't come through here, then they might've gone off the trail miles back. And for every day they spent searching, they might be one day closer to running out of time.

"Yeah, maybe. Let's ask a few more people," Zafirah muttered. "And quick, too." They rode around the village, asking anyone who'd stop and talk to them. Some of the villagers flat-out ignored them or hurried off the other way; Zafirah couldn't say she blamed them for being suspicious. They stopped by a farmer's stall and picked up some vegetables; the farmer hadn't seen June either, but he'd only come to town two days ago. It wasn't until they'd reached the other end of the village that they finally found someone with an interesting story to tell them. Zafirah spotted an old man filling a bucket of water at the village well and decided to give it one last shot.

"'Scuse me! Hey, excuse me, sir!" she yelled, leaning sideways out of the saddle and waving to him. "Hey, you mind if we ask you somethin'?"

He set the bucket down and straightened up, eying them warily before answering. "I suppose so," he allowed grudgingly.

"You see a woman ride through here lately? Wearing all black, riding a big, hairy, eyeless animal with a long tongue?" she asked, trying not to hope too much.

"Hmm… I did, come to think of it. She came through here in the dead of night not too long ago." _That explains why no one else saw her!_ Zafirah thought, heart pounding. The man's eyes narrowed. "She looked like a bounty hunter. You know that woman? A fellow hunter of yours, maybe?"

"Nah, not really," Jingfei smoothly interjected. "You see which way she went?"

"East. And if it is a bounty you're after, you'd best hurry—you're not the only ones who've been asking after her," the old man told them with scorn in his voice.

A cold chill ran down Zafirah's spine. "W-who else asked? What d'you mean?" she asked apprehensively.

"There was a young man about your age who passed through here not too long after she did. He was about your height, young man," he said, nodding at Basam. "He had brown hair and gold eyes, like a damned Firebender, but he wore green. What about him? You know that one?" He aimed those last questions at Jingfei, a deep scowl creasing his face.

A pause hung heavily in the air before Jingfei answered. "I, uh—Nope, can't say as I do," she replied crisply. "Thanks, sir, you been a big help. Have a good one!" She tugged hard on Rei's reins, leading her around the old man. She gave Rei a nudge and the mooselion trotted towards the eastern edge of the village.

_Don't know the guy, huh? You sure about that one?_ Zafirah thought, narrowing her eyes at the back of the bounty hunter's head. Looking back at Basam, he gave her a bewildered shrug. They now had another problem: they weren't the only ones on June's trail.


	27. Announcements! (Good news!)

Hello, everyone! I know we're not supposed to post Author's Notes as entire chapters, and I know some people get really irritated when they think a story has updated and it turns out to be just an AN (an entirely understandable frustration, I know! I get it, believe me!) However, it's been far to long since my last update on this story and I wanted to let everyone know what's happening. Wait, don't get angry yet! I have some good news! And some bad news, but mostly good news!

The bad news: it's going to be a little while longer before the next update. My beta has been extremely busy and we've been having some communication issues regarding some mysteriously vanishing emails.

The good news: The next time I update, it's going to be a super-huge MEGA UPDATE!

1) Chapter 22, the most recently posted chapter, has been edited! The edits haven't been approved by both my betas yet, but once I get the second one's approval, the edited chapter will be replacing the current version.

On the same note, Chapter 21 has received some minor edits, which are already online! The scene where the Sandbenders meet the bounty hunter Jingfei has been changed a bit. Feel free to go back and reread!

2) I have rough drafts for Chapters 23, 24, and 25 all ready to go! They just need to be betaed and revised and then they'll be coming online! And Chapters 24 and 25 are both two-parters, so really, you'll be getting FIVE new chapters! The chapters will be posted one day at a time. So, when the updates finally come, you will be getting five days of new chapters, one per day!

3) I am also working on an Interlude chapter, which will be posted after Chapter 25! It'll have some exciting stuff: the first half will take us back in time, covering Zafirah's perspective of Chapter 1, the day she and Kuei first met. The second part of the Interlude will cover some romance between Jingfei and someone who might surprise you!

So no, this is not an update, and I know it's frustrating to get a new chapter notification and find an AN instead. But there are many updates coming, so keep your eyes peeled!


	28. Chapter 23

**I know, I said the wait would be shorter this time. I LIED! HAHAHA- no, but seriously, I do apologize. My life has been very chaotic for a while. Much like the characters in this story, I'm trying to figure out my path in life. I was living in a very bad situation for a year and a half, and it killed my creative motivation for quite a while. I'm out of that situation now, back at home, and trying to figure out what the next step is for me, and how to get there.**

**However, this story is still incredibly important to me. I keep saying that I will see this fic through to the end, and I mean it every time. I'm sorry again for all the slow updates and I hope that you will stick with me as this fic marches (slowly) towards its conclusion! We are getting there, one chapter at a time!**

**The good news: this isn't just any update. This is… A MEGA-UPDATE! Yes, just like I promised in the Author's Note I posted a little while ago! I said there'd be a mega-update and here's me, keeping my promise. That's right, I've been a busy bee during my absence! A busy writer-bee. To start with, Chapters 21 and 22 have both been edited! The edits to Ch21 are minimal—just the scene where the Sandbenders meet bounty hunter Jingfei for the first time. You may want to go back and reread both before checking out this chapter.**

**There's a whole lot of new material waiting to be posted! Today begins the CST Mega-Update!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 23—THE RIDDLE**

Footsteps echoed in the stone corridor, approaching Kuei's cell. Yet another meal tray slid through the little slot under the iron door. Kuei didn't even lift his head. There was a faint shuffle as the guard turned and walked away, the echoes lingering in the still air. He stayed huddled in the corner of the cell, arms wrapped around his knees in a poor attempt to ward off the chill in the damp air. The only sound that broke the silence was the steady dripping of water somewhere in the cell; at first, that dripping had been unbearably irritating, but after the first few days of his imprisonment, it had faded into the background. He hardly even heard it now. It was simply _there_—much like the tight knot that writhed in the pit of his stomach at all hours, burning and seething with the heat of failure, the sting of helplessness.

There was little way of telling exactly how many days (or weeks) it had been. The only means he had to determine the passage of time were the contents of the meal trays that the guards gave him. He forced himself to raise his head and slowly scooted over to the tray—it looked like dinner. Another day had passed. He lifted his hand, as stiffly as if he were one of the Fire Nation's mechanical contraptions, and pulled the tray closer. He took the dumpling on the tray and bit into it, neither knowing nor caring what was in it. The sound of his own teeth clicking together as he chewed seemed to echo impossibly loudly in the cell… or perhaps just inside his own head.

He couldn't have said why Long Feng was keeping him alive—no one had come to interrogate him on anything. The most human contact he'd had was the sound of the Dai Li agents' whispering footsteps outside the cell, and the occasional barbed exchange with a guard. So why was he still breathing? What did Long Feng want with him? Or perhaps _that_ was what Long Feng wanted—to put doubt and fear into Kuei's mind. Perhaps he wanted Kuei to fret over that very question, to spend his time wondering why he still lived, if that food on the tray might be poisoned, if those footsteps were the Dai Li agents coming for him… if that day would be his last.

For that matter, he really had no idea what Long Feng's ultimate motivation might be. There he was, locked away in a prison beneath the murky waters of a lake most Ba Sing Se citizens never visited, and he had no idea what his opponent even hoped to gain. Naturally, the man wanted control of Ba Sing Se—there was no disputing that—but to what end? Was he simply to rule over it? Or did he have some larger goal in mind for the city? Did he hope to create another false utopia, as he'd done during the war—a place where the truth was subverted and a new reality forced over it?

_A fine thing that turned out to be,_ Kuei thought contemptuously. The empire of lies had become rotten inside, like an ash apple left on the ground, and then the Avatar and his friends had torn the whole thing wide open. _And then the Avatar fell, too—we were all defeated like the children they are_, he thought bitterly. Then his throat clenched with guilt and he told himself, _No! No, I shouldn't think like that. They did their best… more than I was capable of…_ The knot wound itself tighter.

Then again, perhaps Long Feng's motives were less insidious than that. As far as he could tell, based on what the Avatar and his friends had said, Long Feng had believed himself to be acting in the city's best interest by suppressing the truth and creating a world of lies within the walls. Perhaps this time, Long Feng had learned his lesson and intended to rule the city with a more thoughtful approach. He snorted at the thought, wondering if the man was even capable of such a thing.

Then again, this was the man his father had trusted… but what if that were a lie, too? What if his father had been more of a fool than he knew? Kuei squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the heel of his hand to the bridge of his nose, trying to force all these negative thoughts out. But they persisted, pushing back against his will.

Then again, if truth and justice were Long Feng's goal, it was rather undermined by the fact that he would be starting his new regime on a foundation of lies and—in all likelihood—murder. Kuei scoffed grimly at the thought. If there was one thing he'd learned from his extensive studies of Earth Kingdom history, it was that no empire gained by lies could stand for long. If nothing else, going by the examples of the past, Long Feng would eventually be taken down by someone even better at lying and manipulating—or by someone honest, with the strength and determination to bring true justice and peace to Ba Sing Se.

Given the increasing probability that he wouldn't be around to see either outcome, Kuei dearly hoped it would be the latter.

He also didn't know what had become of Zafirah and Basam, or of Bosco, but he found himself hoping more and more that they wouldn't come looking for him—that they would stay far away from this city. Whatever Long Feng's reasons were for letting Kuei live this long, he wasn't foolish enough to think that those reasons would extend to his companions. He shuddered under a sudden mental image of the Sandbender twins falling into Long Feng's grasp, and all the ways that he could use them to get whatever it was he wanted out of Kuei…

He put his head back against the damp, cold wall. A sharp cough rattled its way out of his lungs; _Oh, that would be simply_ _fantastic,_ he thought bitterly. _An illness, that's what this whole adventure really needs to be even more perfect._ He shivered, pressing his hands over his face. _Damn you, Long Feng. Whatever you're planning, hurry up and get it over with…_

* * *

The days were going by quickly—Zafirah wasn't sure if that was a good thing. On one hand, every day took them further east and closer to Ba Sing Se; on the other hand, each passing day—each hour, even—upped the odds that they might arrive too late…

The grasslands still rolled out all around them, but the grass was much shorter now, and the road had run up alongside a wide river that flowed past them. There was a bright, shining something off in the distance ahead of them. She lifted a hand to her face, shading her eyes and squinting ahead. From her spot behind Jingfei on Rei's back, she saw that the gleam was sunlight bouncing off a vast stretch of water. It was so intense in the late-summer sun that it made her eyes ache.

"Where are we?" Basam asked as they got closer to it.

"I dunno, looks like it might be a lake or something," Jingfei said with a mockingly mystified tone.

"Yeah, obviously, but which lake?" Zafirah asked impatiently. Any other time, she would've chuckled at a joke like that—Spirits, she'd probably have beaten Jingfei to it and said it first. But at that point, all she cared about was getting to Ba Sing Se.

"Western Lake," Jingfei announced. "We gotta cross it. Ba Sing Se's on the other side of it."

"Cross it?" Zafirah echoed, dismayed. That'd mean waiting and hoping for a boat to take them over. "Can't we go around instead?" she asked urgently.

"Sure!" Jingfei replied cheerily. Then she rolled her eyes and added, "If you wanna take even longer to get there."

"Okay, so how're we gettin' across this thing?" Basam asked, scratching his chin. Zafirah narrowed her eyes even more against the light's glare for a moment before she spotted something promising.

"We could try over there," Zafirah suggested, pointing. Up ahead, the outline of a village appeared in front of the brilliantly glittering water. Its low, squat buildings sat right next to the river's mouth.

"Glad you think so, 'cause that's where we're going," Jingfei announced. "It's a nice little fishing town, I been here a couple times before. They got the best smoked fish you ever tasted."

"Fishing town, huh?" Zafirah echoed, her interest rising a little.

"Haven't been in many of those before," Basam commented. He was right—the last one they'd been in was the one where she'd gotten the ointment for that damned rash, back on the beach. The memories felt like they were years old already. So much had happened since then…

Zafirah watched closely as they got nearer to the village, and not just because it meant the next step of their journey. Despite her worries, she felt a swell of excitement. This was the first big fishing village they'd been to, much different from the first one; it was like seeing the exact opposite of the Misty Palms Oasis. Her head twisted back and forth like a cat-owl's as they entered the town, taking in the brightly colored buildings and all the things happening around them. She counted five fish merchants just in the square near the town's gate; the strong smell of their catches filled her nose. It was different than the salty smell of the ocean, but so similar. And at the far end of the square they passed a man and a young girl fixing a fishing net in a storefront.

Jingfei's hollering brought her back to their task. "'Scuse me, ma'am! Hey!" The bounty hunter turned Rei towards an older woman standing behind a fish merchant's stall. The woman glanced up and eyed them appraisingly.

"Yes? Can I help you?" said the woman.

"Yeah, maybe! I got a question, you mind answering it?" Jingfei said in what she obviously thought was a winning way.

"I suppose so," the woman said cautiously.

"You seen a woman in black come through lately? Riding a big, hairy beastie with no eyes and a long tongue?" Jingfei asked.

"Why, yes, I did," the woman replied. "It's hard to forget a thing like that, even at my age! She was quite rude, too. She isn't a friend of yours, I hope!"

"Hah! No, ma'am, ain't no friend of us!" Jingfei scoffed. "One more question, if you don't mind?"

"All right, go ahead."

"Well, uh, was—was there ever anyone here asking after that lady in black? Our age, brown hair, gold eyes?" Zafirah could've sworn she heard a sliver of hesitation in Jingfei's voice as she asked that.

"Hmm… yes, there was. A young man passed through just two days ago. He was a shifty-looking fellow, if you ask me! He was also very rude," the woman said with a frown. Zafirah glanced from the woman to Jingfei, whose face she could see from the side; the bounty hunter's jaw clenched.

"Thanks, that was real helpful," Jingfei said, a little too casually. "Now, if you can just tell me one more little thing—which way did they go?"

"They both were headed east," the woman said. Jingfei nodded and tugged the reins to bring Rei around the stall, when suddenly she froze just for a moment. Zafirah saw her head turn to the left and her hands go tight on the reins before she quickly turned back to the woman.

"That other guy—you said he passed through already, yeah? He ain't here now?" Jingfei asked, her voice a little too light.

"Well, I didn't see him leave, but no one's spotted him since then, so I can only assume he's gone," the woman said.

"Thanks for your help!" Basam called to her as they rode away. Zafirah scowled at the back of Jingfei's head. The bounty hunter steered Rei down the crowded market street till they reached the docks at the far end of the town.

Once again, despite all the terrible things going on, Zafirah couldn't help but smile a little as the docks came into sight between two warehouses. _Boats! Actual boats!_ she thought in amazement. Basam nudged Zafirah's back, and she turned around and grinned widely at him. He pointed excitedly at the ships bobbing and rocking gently next to their piers. She drank in the sight of the smooth, wooden hulls, the crisp, white sails, and the jungle of ropes connecting it all together. Jingfei halted Rei and the three of them dismounted.

"Okay, now let's find us a boat and get across that lake!" Zafirah said, rubbing her hands together with a sudden swell of optimism running high.

"Why don't we split up for a bit? Might go faster that way," Basam suggested. Zafirah hesitated; with their bounty hunter suddenly acting so shifty, Zafirah wasn't sure she liked the notion of letting her out of their sight in a busy town like this one, but if it would save time…

"Okay, fine. How's about we meet back here in…" She quickly counted up all the boats she could see, doing some reckoning in her head. "Say, one hour? That'll give us some bargaining time."

"One hour oughta do it," Basam agree.

"Sure, sure, one hour," Jingfei said distantly, flapping one hand around as she scanned the docks. She took off at a fast clip, pulling a growling Rei along with her. "You two behave yourselves!" she yelled back over her shoulder.

"Oh, _that's_ not suspicious at all," Zafirah muttered, crossing her arms as Jingfei sped away from them.

"Yeah, no kidding. What's up with this gold-eyes guy, anyway?" Basam said. "He's obviously on the same trail as us, and she's takin' time to ask if anyone's seen him, but she doesn't have a Spirits-be-damned thing to say 'bout it! This has 'big problem' carved all over it."

"I know. Let's hurry up and get a boat to hire, before this whole thing explodes on us," Zafirah said darkly. She and Basam went in different directions, with Zafirah taking the boats straight ahead and her brother tackling the ships on the right.

* * *

Basam hurried along the docks, eying each ship as he passed them. He figured he'd start at the end and work his way back. He looked out across the lake through a gap between two ships and pictured Ba Sing Se sitting on the other side. _Hold on, buddy, we're on our way! We're gonna find you,_ he thought, breaking into a run. The sooner they crossed the lake, the sooner they'd reach Ba Sing Se and, hopefully, find out their friend's fate.

He thought back to the day when Kuei had gone missing, and the frustration—and sadness—he'd felt at having to leave his tribe behind, so soon after finding them again… But there was no way he was going to abandon Kuei, not after all the times he'd stood by Basam and his sister.

When he got to the ship at the far end of the docks, he walked out onto the pier it was tethered to and peered up at the deck; there wasn't anybody in sight.

"Uh, hello?" he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Anyone aboard?"

"Who's there?" A tall, thickly-built man stepped out of the little cabin on the deck and walked over to the ship's side. He squinted at Basam irritably. "Who're you?" he shouted down.

"I'm a traveler—name's Basam! I'm lookin' to hire a ship to take me and my two friends across the lake. Any chance you'll help us?" Basam yelled back.

"This ain't a ferry, son! I'm a fisherman, I don't have time or space for passengers!" the man told him with an irritated frown.

"But we could—" Basam didn't get a chance to bargain with him. The man stormed back into his cabin and slammed the door. Basam sighed heavily and shook his head. "Okay, next one, I guess," he muttered. The boat next to that one had nobody on it, and so did the one after that. He hoped they all weren't empty like that; they'd have to come back later to ask, if they couldn't find anyone else to take them over, and that'd mean lost time—and they didn't have any time to spare.

The third one had plenty of people working on it. It took him a few hollers to get anyone's attention, but finally one of the workers heard him yelling and went to get the captain.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" asked the captain, who was a tall, thin man with an impressive mustache.

"My friends and I need a ride across the lake, we're lookin' to pay our way on someone's ship!" Basam called up to him.

"Oh, is that so? For what purpose?" the captain asked.

"Our friend's in trouble, we're the only chance he's got! We got a little money, or—I dunno—we could do some work for you," Basam said hopefully.

"In trouble, eh? Hmm. Well, how much money do you have, young man?" The captain scratched his chin.

Basam's hopes sank as he thought of the pitiful coin pouch in his pocket. "Well, uh…" A moment later, he skulked away from the ship with the captain's roaring laugh bouncing around his ears.

The next couple tries didn't go any better. He just hoped Zafi and Jingfei were having more luck than him. The ship in front of him now looked empty, but he stopped anyway. _Oughta give it a try, just to be sure,_ he thought miserably. His footsteps thumped hollowly on the pier as he walked up to the side of the ship.

"Anyone there? Hello?" he shouted. All he got was silence. "Hello?" he tried again. He waited a moment and then started to turn away.

"Yes, who's there?" came a woman's voice from the ship's deck. He spun back again and spotted a tall, solidly built woman with gray-streaked brown hair pulled back in a topknot. She leaned over the ship's rail and peered down at him curiously.

"Uh, I'm lookin' to hire a ship to take me an' my companions across the lake," he said.

"Sorry, son, I don't take passengers," the woman said bluntly.

"We can pay!" Basam yelled frantically as she turned away. "We got money—I mean, not a lot, but… Or, or we can work! Please, everyone else shot me down too and this is really, really important! Our friend's in danger, he could die any day—he might be dead already for all we know—but he's got no one else, we're the only ones that can help him!"

The woman paused. "How many 'companions' are we talking about?" she asked, coming back to the side of the ship.

"Just two," Basam said, then winced and muttered, "And, uh… one saber-tooth mooselion."

"A _what?_" The woman stared at him like he'd just sprouted wings.

"It's real nice, it won't hurt anyone!" Basam added quickly. She heaved a sigh and shook her head. Basam's shoulders slumped. "Look, forget it. Sorry I bothered you," he said, staring down at the pier. He slowly turned and started to leave.

"What's your name, son?" the woman called after him. He stopped and turned back around, puzzled.

"It's Basam," he said.

"Basam. Desert name, if I'm remembering right," the woman said thoughtfully. "You're very far from home."

"Yeah, ain't that true," Basam agreed, frowning.

"I'm Chunhua," she said.

* * *

Jingfei wandered along the docks, clicking her teeth together absent-mindedly as she squinted at the ships. Rei padded along behind her, nudging her with her nose every now and then.

"Okay, find a boat," she muttered. This whole thing was winding up a whole lot more trouble than she'd thought. Sure, it'd sounded real simple to start with: help two Sandbenders find some friend of theirs that June had collected for a bounty. She'd hauled in enough gold on her last bounty that doing one for free wouldn't hurt all that much—especially if it meant finally giving June back some of the misery the other hunter had dealt out on their last meeting. Maybe she'd even get to have a nice _conversation_ with the woman. She cracked her knuckles, scowling fiercely at the thought.

She still had no idea who this kidnapped friend of theirs was; it wasn't just any random man that got a bounty slapped on his head, though, so she figured he could be somebody either rich or important (or a terrible criminal). She was kind of curious as to who this fellow was (and it did bother her a little that the Sandbenders wouldn't tell her anything about him). The thing of it was, when customers of hers kept secrets this devotedly, it usually spelled trouble for her. Last time she'd had a customer who refused to tell her anything about their target, she'd wound up in the middle of a clan war in the southern Earth Kingdom and come just a hairs-width away from getting shot full of arrows.

These two seemed legitimate, though; they seemed _nice_, damn it all. They were just too upset for all of this to be fake—or that's what she hoped, anyway. Either way, it should've been easy. All they had to do was track down June and steal the friend away from her. But now there was another hunter on June's trail, somebody with brown hair and gold eyes…

_That don't mean it's the same guy,_ she told herself uneasily. _Just 'cause he got brown hair and gold eyes and a liking for green clothes… lots of folks from the colonies look that way. Could be anybody…_ A clinking sound at her feet got her out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw a green bottle at her feet with a piece of parchment sticking out of it. A prickling feeling ran up her backbone. Jingfei jerked her head up and glanced around in surprise, but she saw nobody that might have dropped it—or that might have rolled it her way. Picking it up, she tugged the parchment out of the bottle's neck and unrolled it. There was a messily written note scrawled on it in charcoal; her gut twisted as she read the note over twice. The edges of the parchment crumpled as her fingers tightened on the note and her eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Guess it ain't just anybody. Damn," she grumbled. Memories flooded back to her, flashes of a quick, sharp smile, a rowdy laugh, bright gold eyes with a shrewd gleam to them… She could practically smell the sun-baked, musty reek of the alleyways in the slums of Omashu… or maybe that was just the low tide under the pier beneath her feet. She sighed and muttered, "I really hope I don't gotta end up kickin' your backside, ya big, dumb hogmonkey…" Rei growled quietly and nosed Jingfei's ear. She tore up the note and tossed it into the water, watching the pieces flutter down and soak in the water before she turned and stomped down a pier towards the nearest ship.

* * *

It was midday, so most of the ships were buzzing with work. Zafirah stopped at each one, and the captains of every last damned one of them were asking for more money than the three of them had put together—and no amount of bargaining, yelling or doe-eyed pleading was getting those prices down to something they could manage. The end of that one hour left Zafirah back where she'd started from, glowering at the ships and wishing them all thousands of holes in their sails. Basam met up with her a few minutes later, beaming from ear to ear.

"Anything?" she asked, hope rising despite herself at his upbeat expression.

"Yep!" Basam replied happily. "I got one who's goin' across first thing in the mornin'!"

"What're they askin' for the ride?" She braced herself for the answer, wincing in expectation.

"That's the best part: not one single copper piece! Seems the captain's in need of some help. She's got a few hurt crewmates and a smashed-up deck 'cause of an accident that happened a few days ago. She'll take us across for free if we do some work for her! She'll give us food, too!" Basam said happily.

"Really? That's great!" Zafirah let out a relieved sigh. "Glad one of us had some luck. Now all we gotta do is find our bounty hunter." She looked around the docks but there was no sign of Jingfei or Rei among the people milling around. "You see 'er?"

"Nah, not yet. Maybe she's busy bargaining?" Basam suggested. "Or, could be she's on her way."

"Yeah, could be," Zafirah muttered. They waited there a few more minutes, then hurriedly stepped over to the wall of a building after a cart driver yelled at them for being in the way. After half an hour of waiting, Zafirah's suspicions were running high. She caught Basam's eye and they both frowned.

"Uh oh," he muttered unhappily. "I hope—"

"Hope what?" chimed a voice on their right. There was Jingfei and Rei standing right next to them.

"Hopin' you found a boat!" Basam said smoothly.

"Nuh uh, no luck," Jingfei said, frowning. "How 'bout you?"

"Yeah, we got one," Zafirah said. She studied the bounty hunter's face; her eyes kept flickering sideways, her head ticking a tiny bit to the left like she wanted to look over her shoulder.

"Leaves first thing in the morning," Basam added. "Bright 'n early."

"Early, huh? Don't tell me—sunrise, am I right?" Jingfei asked with a dramatic groan.

"That's right," Basam agreed.

"Ugh, I hate waking up at sunrise," she grumbled. "Fine, fine, if that's what we're stuck with. Let's go find someplace to settle in for the night 'round here. I saw an inn back over that-a-way. C'mon, room's on me!"

"Uh, yeah," Basam agreed uneasily. He sent Zafirah a shifty-eyed sideways glance.

"Sure, I guess so." Zafirah shrugged. Jingfei looked back and forth between them, her forehead creasing.

"What's with you two?" she asked, sounding annoyed and possibly even a little offended. "You're acting like I'm trying to pull a con on you!"

"Okay, Jingfei, listen—we wanna know about this other man that's trailing June," Zafirah said flatly.

"_That's_ what you two're all fussed over?" Jingfei exclaimed incredulously, throwing her hands up.

"Um, yeah? Whoever he is, he's after the same thing we are, and you don't seem the littlest bit worried he's gonna beat us to it!" Basam said, crossing his arms.

"That's 'cause it's nothing to be worried about! Spirits, I'm pretty good at this bounty huntin' stuff, you know, I ain't new at it!" Jingfei huffed. "Sweet ancestors, you two sure know how to make a lady feel respected. C'mon, let's go, I don't wanna stand on these docks all day."

"We know you're not new at it," Zafirah said shortly. "What we wanna know is, if it's nothin' to worry over, then how come you're not sayin' who he is? If you don't know the guy, how come you keep lookin' so nervous?"

"'Cause _I don't know_ who it is! Not for sure, anyway! Brown hair, gold eyes—that describes a whole lotta colonials, lemme tell you! Now c'mon, let's get a move on, I'm tired of standing here," Jingfei said, frustrated.

"But you got a feelin' about who it is, am I right?" Zafirah pressed, her instincts not letting her give up just yet. Jingfei simmered for a moment before blowing out a puff of air and rolling her eyes.

"Fine, fine, fine!" she sighed in aggravation. "Could be I know this fella. Few years back, I teamed up with somebody who fit those looks. He's a bounty hunter, same as me. Can't say for sure it's the same fella, though! That's why I ain't worried. Even if it's him, he's not nearly as good as me, anyway, I can tell you that! I'll worry when there's a need to. So _let's go_."

Zafirah and Basam glanced doubtfully at each other. "And what happens if it is the same man?" Zafirah asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That all depends on him, now, don't it?" Jingfei retorted. Zafirah shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest as her anger cooled into frustration.

"Well, whoever he is, he got a head start on us," she muttered.

"Yeah, so let's go get some supplies and rest up for tomorrow—we gotta put on some speed and catch up to him," Basam suggested.

"That's what I been saying!" Jingfei cried, flinging her hands in the air again. "So _now_ can we go? We ain't even had lunch yet and I'm hungry!" Zafirah and her brother followed Jingfei away from the docks at a fast walk; Basam leaned over and nudged her.

"Seems like she's in an awful big hurry to get away from these docks, don't ya think?" he whispered. Zafirah nodded, eying the back of the bounty hunter's head. She hoped that the tense feeling in her gut was just worry and not a sign of even worse things headed their way.

* * *

_One hour past midnight…_

After paying for their rooms at the inn, they spent the rest of the day exploring the town and stocking up on some needed supplies. Once night fell, they got themselves some dinner at the tavern below the inn (Jingfei had the best fish curry she'd ever tasted) and then called it a night. Or, at least, the twins did.

Jingfei sat in her room at the inn and waited. Luckily for her, the inn was cheaper than they'd expected, so they'd gotten two rooms. Good thing, too—made it easier to do what had to be done. She looked up at the moon through the window on her right, then clapped her hands on her thighs and pushed herself up off the creaking cot. She slid open the wooden door, wincing as it squeaked a little on its track, then closed it behind her and walked down the hall. She pushed down an edge of guilt as she walked by the Sandbender twins' room.

_Sorry, you two, it can't be helped,_ she thought. Scolding herself for getting soft, she toughened her nerves and marched down the inn's back stairs, out into the cool, late-summer night. She passed by the shed where Rei was sleeping; normally she wouldn't have gone anywhere without her furry friend, but this was a task that needed secrecy, and there wasn't much that was secretive about a saber-tooth mooselion. She hurried off through the sleeping village, straight back to the docks. She strode along quickly till she got to the north end of the docks. She couldn't have quite said what she felt as she walked along: a little bit nervous? Maybe. A little bit angry? Definitely.

There was a big warehouse at the very end of the docks, just like the note had said, but she walked past it; that would've been far too obvious a choice. Instead, she walked to the little shed behind it—a run-down little place next to an unused pier. She'd learned thanks to the innkeeper that it used to be the storehouse for the salted and smoked wares of a fisherman that'd lost his business. _Too bad for him,_ she thought offhandedly as she went around to the back of the shed. In the shadows behind the shed, there was a spot where the wooden planks had rotted away. She sidled up to the hole and reluctantly whistled a few notes from a song. Another whistle answered her, floating out of the dark insides of the little building.

A grinning face appeared out of the shadows inside, gold eyes glinting out at her behind messy, light brown hair. Jingfei put her fists on her hips and scowled.

"Been a long time, Jingfei," said the young man, leaning up against the edge of the gap in the wall.

"You're gonna cause me a whole heap of problems, Renshu," she scolded him.

"Pfft! The polite thing to say woulda been, 'Yeah, Renshu, it's good to see ya!' That ain't no way to greet an old friend," he chided her, still grinning.

She snorted, snapping, "Who says we're still friends?" His grin didn't falter. She narrowed her eyes at him, but then her scowl softened a little. "Fine. It's good to see you, Renshu," she admitted.

"That's more like it!" he said cheerily. "I saw ya walkin' 'round the docks with those two sand-rats and I just had to say hello." He plopped down on an old crate next to the hole, either not noticing or not caring that the ancient wooden thing looked like it might fall to bits under a light breeze.

"Okay, you got me here and said your hello. Now will ya please tell me what you're doing following around after June?" Jingfei demanded. "You damn near got me into trouble with my 'sand-rats'—great name, by the way, I see you're as polite as always," she added with a roll of her eyes. "Who are my customers, by the way!"

"Yeah? How much they payin' you?" Rensh asked, crossing his arms. "Whatever it is, I can guarantee it ain't enough."

"First thing, my pay's none of your business. Second thing, what's that supposed to mean, 'it ain't enough'?" Jingfei asked skeptically.

"I'll get to that in a moment. Listen, I slipped that note to ya this afternoon 'cause I got a plan, and I need your help, Jingfei," Renshu said. He met her eyes with surprising earnestness. Her heart sank. Last time he'd asked for her help with that look, things hadn't exactly gone well. "June's next bounty, your little sand-rat buddies, they're all connected."

"Uh, yeah!" Jingfei scoffed. "It'd be pretty weird if they wasn't, seeing as how they hired me to track her down for 'em. So what's strange about that? June grabbed their friend, they want him back, and who do ya get to track a bounty hunter? Another bounty hunter, naturally!" She spread her hands and smirked.

"A friend of theirs? Ohoho, I'll _bet_ he is!" Renshu chortled.

"You're talkin' nonsense, Renshu," Jingfei remarked.

"Look, did your sand-rat customers tell you who this 'friend' of theirs is? You got any idea who it is you're tracking right now?" he asked.

"They just said it was a friend. They were non-specific as to the other details. So what? I've had tight-lipped customers before. You have, too," Jingfei pointed out.

"Uh huh, but maybe these two're a little bit more tight-lipped than normal? You ain't the least bit suspicious of 'em keeping so quiet about him?" Renshu prompted with a knowing smirk.

"Uh… well…" Jingfei looked away, biting her lip. Hadn't she just been thinking about that earlier? Yes, she'd had tight-lipped customers… and they were usually hiding something huge. And more than once, their not-so-little secrets had led to her nearly winding up dead.

"Okay, the thing is, I know who he is. I know who June's bounty is and lemme tell ya, if she makes that hand-off, she's gonna get so much gold for that bastard she'll need a cart just to lug it all home!" Renshu's eyes gleamed greedily in the moonlight.

"That's ridiculous, Renshu! You always liked to talk big, but that's crazy even for you," Jingfei said, shaking her head. "Who could a couple've Sandbenders be friends with that'd be worth _that_ much gold?"

"Who, indeed?" Renshu said with a tilt of his head and a dramatic wave of a hand.

"Just spit it out, already!" Jingfei said impatiently.

He puffed up like a pigrooster, getting ready for his big reveal. "This bounty she's got," he said, "This 'friend' of yer little sand-rat buddies, he's none other… than the Earth King himself!" He spread his hands and beamed, like he'd just pulled off some amazing magic trick.

Jingfei gaped at him for a long moment before exploding with laughter. "Ahahaha! Sweet sacred ancestors, Renshu, that there's the dumbest thing I ever heard! The Earth King? You really think I'm gonna believe that? Hahaha! What would the Earth King be doin' traveling around with a couple've Sandbenders?!"

"Exactly." That one word from Renshu cut into her hilarity like an arrow. Her laughing died down and she lifted her head to look at him again. He wasn't smiling anymore. A little gnawing doubt grew inside the back of her head.

"Now—now hold on just a moment!" she protested. "How can you possibly know who this fella is? I ain't heard a damn thing about a price on the Earth King's head, and I keep my ears pretty damn well close to the ground! I know what you're trying to sell me here and I don't believe a word of it."

"Well yer ears obviously need cleanin', 'cause it's all true! The Spirits-be-damned Earth King's got a bounty on his head, June up and grabbed him, and she's about to haul in a sack of gold twice as big as your head!" Renshu insisted.

"And how do I know I can trust you on this, Renshu? Huh?" Jingfei growled. "After what happened last time—"

"Aw, c'mon! That was ages ago!" Renshu whined.

"It was three months ago—which, by the way, is exactly how much time I spent in that colonial prison, in case you was wondering!" Jingfei told him bitterly.

He leaped up off his crate, gaping at her and spluttered, "Jingfei, I… that was an—an accident! I couldn't do nothin'… they would've caught us both and took the bounty from us!"

"Oh, yeah, that would've been real terrible—for you," Jingfei sneered. "That'd be a real shame, you going home empty-handed, don't want that!"

He stepped back from her, a wounded look in his eyes. "I—I did wait for ya. I waited at our meeting spot, just in case you could… and—and I kept your half for ya. Hold on, just a moment." He disappeared back into the shack. She could hear a clattering sound inside along with a few muffled swears, and then he came back out with a sack in his hands. Jingfei's eyes widened at the all-too-familiar emblem dyed onto the cloth bag. He handed it to her.

"That's all of it," Renshu said quietly. "That's all your half of the pay for that damned sword." She opened the bag and peered in to take a quick stock of its contents, letting out a low whistle at the pile of gold coins inside.

"Well, cut me up! We did good!" she exclaimed happily. Then she coughed and glanced up shamefacedly at Renshu, scratching awkwardly behind her ear. "Uh… sorry. For doubting you, I mean."

"Hey, no worries. Truth be told, I probably would've said the same, if it'd been me," he said with a careless shrug. "Now, about this Earth King business…"

"I dunno, Renshu," Jingfei said uneasily.

"Aw, Jingfei, don't be an idiot!" he urged. "You said yerself, what's the Earth King gonna be friends with a pair of sand-rats for, huh?"

"'Scuse me, I never said 'sand-rats'," she interrupted, indignant.

"Sandbenders, whatever! How'd they end up friends with a Spirits-be-damned royal, huh? How's that even gonna happen?" Renshu asked, scowling in frustration. "They're pullin' the ol' pigsheep wool right over yer eyes, woman! They want that bounty for their own damned selves!"

"Nah, that can't be true," Jingfei insisted. "They—they just want their friend back! That's all. I been traveling with them for a good couple weeks now, I saw it with my own eyes."

"Ya wanna stake yer reputation on that?" he asked darkly. "How about yer life?" She couldn't quite answer. She didn't want to believe it; the Sandbender twins just seemed too upset over this guy. But then, she'd seen some pretty convincing catgator tears in her time. Renshu took a step closer, his expression deadly serious. "Think about in, Jingfei. They ever tell you how they met this friend? Or what he looks like? Spirits, they ever even tell ya his name? They ain't said a word, am I right?" he pressed.

She frowned and turned away, fists on her hips as she stared out over the inky-black lake. He was right; the only thing they'd ever said was to claim that this friend of theirs had been with them at the battle with the Fire Nation, but who knew if that'd actually ever happened?

"Look, Jingfei, how long we been friends?" Renshu asked. He stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Too damned long," she quipped dryly. Then she got serious again and said, "Since Omashu. Since the very start…" She couldn't help but picture in her mind the day they'd met: two scrawny kids scrounging for some extra coinage; the rich man who'd ventured into the slums to find his wayward brother; they'd helped find the little jerk and gotten their first pay…

"Exactly! We got into this bounty-huntin' stuff together, and that's how it's been all along. If I thought this was all nonsense, ya think I'd drag you into it? Spirits, ya think I'd drag _myself_ into it?" he pushed. "Think! Yer smarter than this! Those two sand-rats will follow ya right to their prize, and _that's_ when yer gonna see that 'friendship' of theirs! C'mon—we've put in our time chasin' after the little fish, scrapin' for each and every copper piece. Ain't it time to take some of the big gold for our own selves? We've earned it, right?"

"There's other bounties out there," she grumbled, though she couldn't quite get her heart into it.

"Yeah, but when're we gonna get ourselves another one this big? Huh? C'mon! Why'd we get into this bounty huntin' to start with, huh?" he urged.

She stared into his gold eyes, dark like bronze in the dim moonlight. He stared back, deadly serious. She thought about her parents, back in Omashu someplace (or that's what she hoped, anyway), probably with that same run-down shoe shop. She remembered growing up in the dirt, seeing rich folks in their palanquins pass by on all sorts of shady "business". She flashed back to the one rare time her parents had sent her to deliver an order to the house of a nobleman, and catching glimpses of the sugar-sweet life she'd never known.

Then she sighed harshly and, with her heart feeling heavy, she shook her head and glanced away from her longtime hunting partner. "So what's this plan of yours, anyway?"

* * *

Jingfei bought them all breakfast the next morning, much to Zafirah's surprise. She'd insisted on it, but she spent the whole meal being unusually quiet. She'd mumbled something that had sounded like "Too damn early" when Zafirah had asked what was up. Once they'd eaten, they went back to the docks and hurried to the ship that Basam had found for them. It rocked gently in the water next to its pier, its deck already buzzing with work being done.

"Good, right on time!" boomed a husky, female voice. A tall woman with iron-gray hair strode down the gangplank and stood before them with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Yes, ma'am!" Basam shouted back proudly. "This here's my sister, Zafirah, and that's our guide, Jingfei."

"And that's her mooselion, I take it," the woman said wryly. She extended her hand to Zafirah, clasping her forearm for a moment, and then to Jingfei. "I'm Chunhua, captain of this ship. If you'll follow me, please, we've got a lot to do before we cast off." They followed her up the gangplank, which creaked and swayed under their feet. Zafirah heard muffled swearing behind her and looked back to see Jingfei tugging on Rei's reins. The mooselion let out the saddest roar she'd ever heard and pawed nervously at the gangplank. Zafirah turned back and hurried to catch up with the captain.

"Captain, thanks so much for takin' us across. You got no idea how much you're helpin' us," Zafirah told the captain fervently as they stepped up onto the deck.

"Well, that's all right, so long as you all pull your weight," Chunhua replied gruffly, but Zafirah thought she heard a little edge of sympathy there, too. She guessed Basam had told her their reason for needing a ship. "Now, come on over here and I'll show you what you'll be doing."

"You didn't say nothing about no work!" Jingfei hissed to Basam, grabbing his sleeve as they hurried along behind the captain.

"Aw, c'mon, Jingfei—it won't be that tough!" Basam assured her with a breezy smile. The captain led them over to the front end of the deck, where the wooden planks had been splintered and smashed apart. A cluster of deckhands bustled around the hole, working on it.

"This is where you'll be working," Chunhua told them. "Have any of you done this sort of work before?"

"Yes, ma'am, we have—me and my brother," Zafirah told her.

"And you, Jingfei?" Chunhua asked.

"Uh, nope, sorry," Jingfei muttered.

"All right, then. Follow me—I'll show you where to put your animal, and then we'll put you to work somewhere else." Chunhua left with Jingfei and Rei, leaving Zafirah and Basam to get their instructions from a tall woman named Jiao, the ship's first mate. They got to work quickly. It was pretty easy once they started; it wasn't that different from patching up broken sand-gliders. About half an hour later, Zafirah paused in her work when she felt the ship lurch forward. Basam nudged her and beamed.

"Ship's leaving the dock!" he said eagerly, grinning. She looked up quickly at the sails overhead, billowing as they caught the wind. The dock slid past them alongside the ship.

Jiao caught her craning her neck to watch and scoffed gently. "Go ahead, you two," the first mate said with a hint of amusement. "Go watch us sail out and then get back here."

"Yes, ma'am! Thanks!" Basam exclaimed. They hurried over to the side of the ship, leaning out over the gunwale. Below them, the water churned past with white foam splashing against the hull. The wind whipped at them, blowing Zafirah's braid over her shoulder. She glanced back at her brother, who grinned widely at her. Then she turned back and took a deep breath of the crisp, morning air, savoring this fantastic new thing. The breeze filled her lungs and gave her new strength; they were on the move again and one step closer to Ba Sing Se.

As the docks shrank away behind them, Basam and Zafirah went back to work. She settled into the repairs with a clearer mind than she'd had in weeks. The simple tasks took her thoughts off the much more frightening and uncertain task in front of them—the one that was waiting beyond the far shore of the lake, behind Ba Sing Se's famous walls. As she sawed and hammered away, with the warm sunlight seeping into her muscles and the ship gliding across the water, she felt the knot in her stomach finally start to unclench a little. For the first time, it didn't seem quite so hard to think that they might just pull off this plan of theirs.

A while after midday, Zafirah and a few other deckhands took their turn to go and eat lunch. She followed them across the swaying deck, arms held out to her sides a little to keep her balance. When they reached the dining cabin, she gratefully braced herself against the wall. The crewmates lined up by a counter on the near side of the cabin; one of the cooks handed them plates of food through a wide window that connected to the galley. Zafirah's stomach growled as she got her plate, and she sniffed appreciatively at the fish curry and steamed vegetables on it. She took the plate over to one of the long tables in the middle of the cabin and sat on the bench. While she ate, her eyes wandered around the dining cabin. On the other side of the cabin, she spotted more of the crew filing in up a staircase from the lower gallery.

"Hey, Jingfei," she called, noticing the bounty hunter among them. Jingfei glanced up and Zafirah couldn't help but wince at the other woman's pasty, greenish face. "You okay?" she asked when the bounty hunter reached her. Jingfei plopped down next to her on the bench, looking at the ground by her feet instead of meeting Zafirah's eyes.

"No. I stay off ships for a reason, damn it all," she groaned, pressing her hands to her stomach. She lifted her eyes just long enough to glance enviously at Zafirah. "Hey, how come you're handling it so well? Last I checked, they don't got a lot of boats out in the desert."

"Yeah, but we got sand-gliders. Not exactly the same thing, but the feeling is kinda similar," Zafirah said. She thought for a moment, then said, "We had folks that'd get sick on the dunes sometimes. We had 'em chew on some ginger. 'Course, I've heard that ginger tea is what you're supposed to drink for a bad stomach, but hey, it's the desert. Tea's not really something we do all that often, heh."

"Thanks for sharing," Jingfei grumbled miserably.

"Uh, my point was maybe they'll have some ginger on board," Zafirah retorted sharply. "It might help."

"Oh, uh…" Jingfei's eyes shifted with embarrassment. "Sorry. Can't hardly think clearly with my stomach like this. Yeah, maybe. I'll ask 'em and see." She leaned heavily on the table and hoisted herself up off the bench, slouching over to the galley window. Zafirah contentedly went back to eating her lunch. A few minutes later, Jingfei returned; she was warily eying the chunk of freshly-peeled ginger root in her hand.

"Bottoms up!" Zafirah told her with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Jingfei said, wrinkling her nose. She took a hesitant nibble from the end of the ginger chunk, swallowed, and puckered her mouth. "Wow, that's strong!"

"Well, yeah, it's ginger," Zafirah said, biting the inside of her lip to keep from snickering at the poor woman's expense. The bounty hunter took a bigger bite of the ginger, squeezing her eyes shut as she chewed it.

"Blech!" she whined.

"Trust me, it'll be worth it in a few minutes," Zafirah said, going back to her lunch. Jingfei chomped down the rest of the ginger, shuddering and grumbling to herself as she finished it off. "Better?" Zafirah asked.

"A little," Jingfei admitted. Her eyes shifted a bit and then she tensely added, "Thanks for the suggestion."

"No problem," she replied, smiling. Then she felt a little twinge of guilt as she looked at the other woman'sshe hesitated a second, remembering something that had been on her mind earlier, before adding, "Listen… I wanna say thanks for offerin' to help us find our friend. I know things've been a little rough between us three, but, well, we wouldn't be able to do any of this on our own. Well, maybe we could, but it'd take a whole lot longer. So… thanks, really."

"Uh, sure. Don't worry about it," Jingfei said. She suddenly looked a bit pale again; oddly, Zafirah could've sworn she looked almost nervous.

"You okay?" she asked cautiously.

"Oh, uh… Yeah. Just not my best day, is all. Getting up early, traipsin' around on this stupid boat," Jingfei told her. Zafirah nodded thoughtfully, studying her for a moment before turning back to the last bite of her lunch.

* * *

Basam went off for his own lunch break after his sister came back from hers. "It's all yours!" he said cheerfully, handing his hammer to her as she passed by.

"Wow, what a joy," she commented dryly, hefting the hammer like she meant to swing it at him. He chortled and ducked, scurrying away across the deck. He looked around, fascinated, as he followed the other deckhands in his group down to the dining cabin. He'd never eaten a meal in a swaying room like this; the gliders always stopped for meals. _I'm guessing they don't do a lot of soup in the galley_, he joked to himself.

As the line of deckhands snaked through the dining cabin to reach the galley's counter window, one of the wood engravings nailed to the wall caught his eye—there, in with all the pictures of ships with sails furled against stormy winds, was one engraving of a sand glider, its sails straining as it flew over the crest of a dune. Right away, a stab of longing jabbed at his heart. The line slowed and he paused next to it, waving to the deckhand behind him to go around him. The sailor sidled around him with a dismissive snort, but the one behind that stopped beside him.

"Remind you of home?" the man asked. Basam turned his head to meet the sailor's gaze. The older man's hazel eyes scrutinized him for a moment before glancing at the engraving. "This ship's a far cry from a sand glider, son."

"No kidding!" Basam agreed heartily. "Uh, I mean… no kidding, sir."

The deckhand let out a deep chuckle. "No need to 'sir' a run-of-the-mill sailor like me, boy. It's just us hardworking sons-of-demons here, am I right?"

"Right," Basam declared. The line moved up and he and the deckhand moved along with it. "Uh, sorry, you are…?"

"Name's Mengyao," the deckhand proclaimed, then gave another rumbling chuckle and added, "You'll have to ignore the irony." He gestured to the thick, deep scars crisscrossing his weather-worn face.

"Irony?" Basam echoed blankly.

"Never mind. It's an old name. Old name for an old man," Mengyao remarked. "Now, word from the captain's that you and your two lady companions are out to rescue a friend. That true?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Basam agreed. "But one of those lady companions is my sister."

"And the other's, what? Your special lady?"

"Huh?! Jingfei?" Basam sputtered. "Oh, no. She's our, uh, guide. Basically."

"Well, your sister's quite a tigerdillo! I never saw a woman swing a hammer like that in my life," he marveled.

"Careful," Basam said with a smirk, "She's already got a guy."

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way. Just that you got some fierce blood in your family, son," Mengyao told him. "You got it too, coming all the way out here to go get your friend. It's a noble thing you're doing. I bet they must be proud of you two back home."

"Yeah," Basam murmured, choking back the wistful twinge that gripped his throat. "Yeah, real proud." They reached the galley and eagerly took the food that the cooks gave them, moving off to find a table. Clearing his throat, he asked, "How long you been on this ship?"

"This one? Not all that long. Now, how long I've been on ships in general… Well, all my life, really. How long have you been away from home?"

"Just since early summer," Basam said. "Feels a lot longer than that, though."

"Your friend's been missing that whole time?" Mengyao asked, eyebrows rising.

"Oh, no, he's just been gone a couple weeks," Basam said, shaking his head briskly.

"So what was it that took you away from the desert, then? Not too often you see Sandbenders this far north—not on their own will, anyhow," Mengyao added gravely.

Basam grimaced, knowing exactly what the deckhand meant. Just about everyone in the desert knew about the stony-faced gangs of "traders" that lurked around the fringes of the desert as they passed through in their travels, watching for Sandbenders to happen by alone, or in twos or threes—small groups that could be beaten down. Everyone knew what it was that they traded in.

"Uh huh, well, we did leave on our own. We had a reason for it, me and my sister and our friend. And once that task was wrapped up, we just kinda kept goin'," Basam told him, smiling fondly as the memories came back.

"It's not easy, leaving your home," Mengyao commented solemnly. "I did it myself, once… but that was years ago."

"Did you ever go back?" Basam asked, hesitantly. He found himself oddly worried about the answer.

"No," Mengyao said, his voice a little heavy. "Then again, my home town and I didn't exactly part ways under the best of times."

"Oh," Basam said uneasily. "Uh, sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, son," the deckhand assured him. "Want to hear what I learned in all those years?"

"Sure." Basam shrugged, curious.

Mengyao's leathery face creased into a wide smile. "Home is a whole lot more than where you were born. If you leave one home, well—believe me, you'll find another one. You'll find one that fits your heart so perfectly, you'll forget it ever _wasn't_ your home."

"And did you find yours?" Basam asked hopefully. Mengyao's smile softened as his eyes wandered to an engraving of a ship on the wall beside his head. His gaze danced over the crashing waves etched into the wood beneath the ship's hull.

"Oh, I certainly did," he said, sighing contentedly. Basam felt a surprising sense of comfort edging away some of his uncertainty, and he couldn't help but smile too.

After lunch, he went back to work with his sister on the repairs. He spotted Jingfei nearby, her forehead scrunched up in concentration as she worked on patching up a fishing net.

"Ugh, c'mon, ya bastard," she grumbled, tugging her fingers out of a tangled knot of ropes. "How did that even happen?"

"Problems with your knots, Jingfei?" Basam asked, amused.

"Uh huh, kind of," the bounty hunter muttered.

"Well, don't you worry, we'll be ashore soon!" he told her merrily. "Look, the far shore's gettin' close now."

"Fantastic," Jingfei sighed. Basam cocked his head, puzzled by the gloominess in her voice.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be glad to hear that. We're almost there! One step closer to our friend!" Basam said encouragingly.

Suddenly, Jingfei hopped to her feet, grunting, "'Scuse me." She rushed across the deck to the gunwale, where she leaned miserably.

Zafirah waved him over and when he squatted down next to her, she murmured, "Jingfei's been havin' some seasickness problems."

"Aha. Yep, that'll do it," Basam said, nodding sympathetically. "I got sick on the dunes my first few times."

"Oh, I remember. I had to help you clean your clothes," Zafirah remarked sourly.

"Ain't it great having a sibling?" Basam joked, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah, get back to work, you bum," she retorted, grinning back.

* * *

Kuei shivered violently as he curled up on the floor of his cell. He felt exhausted; sleep hadn't been coming easily for the last few days. Now, though, he could barely keep his eyes open. He shifted and squirmed miserably on the cold, hard floor, then finally went still as sleep overtook him.

The scraping of a meal tray on the floor woke him up some time later. He picked himself up off the ground, wincing at his stiff neck, and limped over to it. His eyelids weighed heavily as he ate, and after he'd finished off the last of the food, he pushed the tray back through the slot and huddled down on the floor once again. Sitting up just seemed to take far too much energy. His throat caught and he coughed harshly; he felt a vague kind of concern when the cough rattled in his chest, as one might feel for a stranger. It was possible that he'd been worried about something like this earlier, although he couldn't quite put his finger on when that had been. It was hard to think straight with all this shivering going on.

The next time the clattering of a meal tray awoke him, it was much harder to pry his eyelids open. He pushed his head up off the ground and peered blearily at the tray. He was much too cold to move, he thought… or was he? It was hard to say. It was actually quite warm in the cell now. Still, he distantly knew that he needed sustenance, so he pushed himself up on his elbows and grabbed the tray. Luckily, he'd fallen asleep right by the door last time. He ate slowly, shivering the whole time. When he pushed the empty tray back towards the door slot, it didn't quite make it through, but giving a damn about such things would have required far more energy than he had. He slumped back down onto the floor.

When his eyelids drifted open again, something felt different. He couldn't tell what it was. He just knew that something had shifted. There was warm light shining on him, but no window or lamp for its source.

"Kuei," whispered a voice… a lovely, familiar voice. He lifted his head enough to see Zafirah step out of the shadows and into the light. She smiled gently at him, holding her arms outstretched.

"You… here…" he croaked, reaching towards her with slow but yearning hands. He thrust his arms out as far as he could, grasping empty air. She crossed the short distance between them without appearing to move at all, and knelt down beside him. He didn't have the strength to lift his arms again and embrace her. She reached out to him, placing her palms on either side of his face, moving them in to touch him with cruel slowness—and then her touch _burned. _Her entire body exploded into flames that seared into him from head to toe.

"Nngh…" He opened his eyes once again, staring despondently at the dark ceiling and passing his own hands over his clammy, sweat-soaked face. He kept shivering.


End file.
